


Dancing In The Rain

by JessCA1994



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, And brief Sophiam, And you will end up loving Nick, Angst, Bottom Louis, But there are also some other POV, But they don't end up together, Eventual Smut, Everyone is really oblivious, Falling deeply in love, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Jealousy, M/M, Manchester university, Mostly Louis POV, Not so much but yeah there is angst, Pining, Platonic cuddles that are not platonic at all, Slow Burn, There is brief Zerrie, There is graphic violence, Top Harry, Uni AU, You will hate Xander very much, Ziam Mayne - Freeform, getting drunk, larry stylinson - Freeform, like REALLY oblivious, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:45:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 51,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessCA1994/pseuds/JessCA1994
Summary: When Louis goes back for his third year of drama in Manchester, he expects many things. He expects that he will doing his best as the new footie captain, he expects to get great grades and he expects to see his old friends. What he doesn't expect at all is to meet the boy that will turn his world upside down.Or the Uni AU where everyone is just a little too oblivious.





	1. A Strike of Luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have been working in this fic for awhile. I came across this idea in 2015 and this year, finally, I decided to write it. It's like my baby and I'm very nervous of showing you this because it means a lot to me. Originally I was going to post all the chapters at once but I'm an anxious girl so I want to post the first chapter already.  
> Thanks to @Dont_Stop_Larry who is beating the fic for me, and thanks to my Argentinean GC on Twitter and Romi who have read the bits of the story I showed them to give me their opinion. I think it's going to be divided in seven chapters, but we will see! I hope you enjoy this!  
> Also [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is a photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University so you have an idea of how do dates work in this fic. I worked really hard on it and respected the calendar so maybe you wanna check that out so you understand all the dates and stuff.  
> By the way, everyone's age is the one they had at 2013, 2014 except from Shawn and Xander. I did Shawn older (who is 18 years old now and was like 15 or 16 back then) so he could be in the uni and friends with the guys, and I did Xander five years younger (who was 30 back then-yes, Xander is 11 years older than Harry in real life-and is 25 in the fic, so he is 4 years older than Louis).  
> Now, yes, I'll leave you with the first chapter!

The Saturday Louis Tomlinson arrives at Manchester Private College, after two months of not setting foot on the campus, the sun is shining through the clouds, sending rays of pure light through the leaves of the trees lining the street. Although he can't say he won't miss the holidays - he had the most amazing time - he was truly looking forward to returning to the university and seeing all of his friends.

Louis has always loved classes, especially because studying drama has been his dream since he was a kid, so being about to start third year feels just too good to be true. Sure, he has professors he can’t stand, and some subjects are just a pain in the ass, but generally speaking, he is more than happy with what he is doing. And, if truth be told, that wouldn’t happen to him in any other career, so yes, he is thrilled.

When Louis finished high school, he took one year off in which he worked a lot and raised money to help his family, who were going through difficult times. Jay, his mom, worked her ass off, but the money was not enough, and having four younger sisters, he felt that he needed to do something. So he took care of them while she was at work, and when her shift was over, he worked as a waiter to earn some Pounds. His mom was never really happy about this because she always wanted Louis to follow his own path, but him, being 18, told her it was his decision.

Finally, Jay, got a better job in a private hospital for many less hours and she started earning the money she needed to take care of him and his sisters. Jay not only returned to Louis the money he had earned for them and told him to save it for the future, but she told him that she would pay his way through school. Louis decided that the best way of showing his gratitude was nailing it in his career, which was what he was doing.

He walks through the corridors of the building, seeing familiar faces, skateboard in one hand and bag in the other one, until he finds the door of his room. He opens it and steps into the room, throwing his stuff onto the bed, promising himself that he will unpack later. He always left that stuff for last minute, sue him. Some of the things he’d collected and left during the past two years are still there, walls covered by posters of Doncaster Footie club and of some on his favorite bands like Green Day and Nirvana.

Going to college and being away from his family and his city is tough, he’s not gonna lie. Sometimes he just misses Doncaster and wishes he could visit his mum and sisters more often. So yeah, it’s not always easy, especially considering Jay is one of his favorite people in the world. But he also loves Manchester and the people he has met there. Back in Doncaster, he couldn’t do much. He has a few friends he still talks to and is close with, but studying there wasn’t really an option for him.

Louis is deep in thought when suddenly, someone knocks at the door. Louis opens it and smiles when he sees the two guys standing at the other side of the frame.

“Tommo!” the brunette one smiles. “How’ve you been, man? Long time since I last saw you”

“Zayn!” Louis leans forward to pull him into a tight hug, palm hitting his back twice “Summer was sick! What about yours, bro?”

“Sick too. Went to Scotland with my family, it was great.” Zayn nods as he takes a step forward into the room.

“So, no hug for me, then?” the guy with the beard teases, pouting playfully.

“Of course there’s a hug for you, Payno,” he smiles at Liam as he pulls him into his arms. Liam laughs and hugs him back, messing up with his hair “And you? How was your summer? Proper rest, I suppose.”

“Yeah, proper rest” Liam nods, sitting at the edge of Louis’ bed next to his stuff. “I just ate, slept, did some exercise, slept some more…”

“Sounds like the dream,” Louis replies, leaning his back against the wall.

“You said it, not me.” Liam laughs. “So, are the rumors true? Did they chose you as the new footie captain?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Uhm…yeah, they did.” Louis mumbles shyly. One of the things Louis loves almost as much as acting is playing football, and the truth is that he is fucking good at it. His grandfather was always a fan of the Doncaster Rovers club, so every since he was a toddler, he made Louis watch all the games. For his fifth birthday, he gave him his first football, and Louis immediately started playing in their small garden. When he turned six, his mum signed him up for the school team, and every since then, he never stopped playing. He grew up as a big fan of the sport.

When he joined the college, one of the the first things he did was sign up for the university football team. He did the trials and the coach was pretty impressed with his skills. He met Liam there and they both got on well right away. Liam, as it turned out, started Uni to study mechanical engineering one year earlier than he was supposed to because he skipped a year in school. After practice, he introduced him to Zayn, his roommate, who was there to study English. The three of them became really good friends and had been partners in crime ever since. Zayn had nicknamed them the Three Musketeers.

“You will take us to the top, Tommo!” Liam screams, fist up in the air.

“It’s not going to be much different, Li,” Louis chuckles. “The team was always great, and Jack was an amazing captain. I don’t know if I will do him justice,” he says sincerely.

“What are you talking about, Louis? Of course you will! And the team loves you. You’re going to do great, trust me.”

“Thanks, I guess”

Zayn chuckles and lies over the bed opposite them, which is not Louis’.

“So, Gerard isn’t coming back this year?” Zayn asks. Gerard was Louis’ roommate during his first two years, but he was not going to return this year.

“Nope. Went back to France. Think he got engaged or summat. Don’t really care, if I’m being honest,” Louis replies as he shrugs his shoulders. Zayn snorts in response, shaking his head.

“You’re a gem, Louis. I’d be thrilled to have you as my roommate.”

“I’m practically your roommate already, dick head!” Louis laughs.  

The truth is that Louis never really spoke to Gerard because he always spent his nights in Zayn and Liam’s room watching movies and talking, or doing shit like smoking weed. And he plans on doing the same this year.

Liam stands up and looks through the window, sighing.

“We should get out there, ‘s a beautiful day! We could play some footie, Tommo, what do you say?” he suggests, and Zayn grunts.

“Yeah. Yeah, we should,” Louis agrees, reaching for his bag and pulling his football out. “Let’s go”.

“But I’ve just lied down,” Zayn whines.

“C’mon, you wanker, let’s go!” Zayn closes his eyes and doesn’t reply, so Liam walks towards him and starts tickling his waist.

“Stop, stop!” Zayn begs, trying to get free from Liam’s clutches.

“Get up!” Liam goes on, smiling like a dumb with that puppy face of his.

“Liam! Hands off!” he whines, squirming under Liam’s touch.

“Then, let’s go!” Liam grins, stopping the tickles and leaving Zayn panting and curled in a defensive ball.

“Fine, fine!” Zayn huffs rolling his eyes and giving Liam a playful kiss on the cheek before standing on his feet.

They go out of the dorms and run into the grounds of the University. They walk a little bit until they pick up a spot of free grass next to the main campus road. Zayn sits near them on the ground, back leaning against a small tree, and takes a drawing pad out of his yellow backpack. He has always loved to draw, and what he does is pretty sick, Louis reckons. Zayn rests the block on his knees and starts doodling stuff on the paper, his eyes flicking up every now and then to watch Louis and Liam.

Liam and Louis bounce the football onto the ground and start passing it between each other, kicks a little bit stronger every time, feet doing some tricks. Louis juggles the football from one foot to another before passing it again to Liam, and Liam does the same thing. The two of them start distancing from each other so they can have more space between them and do stronger passes. Liam almost trips when he tries to catch the pass Louis does. He steadies himself, ignoring Louis’ laughter, and kicks the football again.

“You’re going to hit someone, you know?” Zayn says, fingers still drawing lines over the sheet of paper.

“Oh, Zee, don’t be such a buzzkill,” Louis answers as he receives the football from Liam. “We’re having fun over here, right, Li? Fuck,” he says, as soon as he realizes he kicked the ball harder than he was supposed to, and it had actually sailed way off to the left and hit someone.

“Told you so.” Zayn smiles without even looking up.

“Smart ass” Louis mutters under his breath before running quickly towards the guy who had fallen to the ground.

“Fuck, sorry, mate. Shit, I’m so sorry,” he apologizes profusely as he stretches his hand out to help the guy get up. The boy tilts his head up, staring at Louis with his big green eyes, and Louis’ suddenly feels like he can’t move. He, this boy, whoever he is, is one of the most beautiful people he has even seen.

“You should be more careful, you know? You could have hurt me” the boy says, his eyebrows creasing. And fuck, his voice is so beautiful, really slow and deep and captivating. Louis has to order himself to reply so he doesn’t look like a dumbass or a jerk, which is probably the first thing the boy will think if he doesn’t respond quickly.

“Fuck, yes, I know! I’m so, so sorry,” he tries to apologize again. He doesn’t know why, but the last thing he wants is for that boy with the chocolate curls tugged back in a black headscarf to be angry at him.

The curly boy’s eyebrows pull together even more before he grins, dimple forming on his cheek. And fuck, why does he have a dimple? Louis shouldn’t be so endeared by  someone he just hit with a ball.

“’M just kiddin’!” he says happily, and Louis can’t help smiling back. He takes his hand and Louis pulls him up. The boy is taller and broader than him and is wearing tight dark jeans with a white t-shirt that has the outlines of hands on it.  “Strong kick you have there, huh? I’m guessing you’re on the football team?” he asks, and Louis nods slowly.

“Yeah, I am,” he says with a smile.

“M Harry, Harry Styles, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Louis Tomlinson.” he greets back. “And those ones over there are Zayn and Liam,” he says, pointing his finger at his friends.

“Nice to meet you too.” Harry waves at them and the guys wave back, slightly confused. “First day here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. But sometimes I’m shit at remembering faces, so sorry if you’re not new,” Louis says, and then he says to himself “Although, I think I would definitely remember face like yours.”

“Yeah, I’m a newbie,” Harry smirks. “Is that why you threw your ball at me?” he teases, putting on a serious face.

“No, I swear! It was an accident!”

“Relax, mate” Harry giggles. “I was just kidding.”

“Oh, right,” Louis replies, feeling slightly flustered.

“Well, I need to keep on going. See where my room is, meet my roommate, unpack my stuff…You know, doing all those things you’re supposed to do in your first day of college.” Harry smiles, and Louis doesn’t know why, but he’s smiling back at him. He’s already lost count of the amount of times Harry has smiled at him in those five minutes they have talked.

“Right, yeah. Sorry I slowed you that with, uhm…yeah, that hit,” Louis says, scratching the back of his neck.

“No worries. When you become a famous footie player, I’ll say that once you kicked a ball at me.” Louis can’t help but snort with laughter.

“So, see you around, I guess?”

“Yeah, sure. See you around, Louis,” he says, and maybe it’s just him but there is something about the curly guy says his name, almost with a crooked grin, that makes him feel something like butterflies in his stomach. Harry starts walking and turns slightly around to wave at him before he keeps on going. Louis stares after him blankly for a second before he realizes Liam is talking at him.

“Louis! Hello, Earth to Louis?” he shouts.

“Huh?” Louis replies, looking at him.

“The ball!”

“What?”

“The ball! Throw the ball at me!”

“Oh, yeah, right.” he nods before putting it on the ground to kick it towards where Liam is standing, trying in vain to forget the bright green of Harry’s eyes.

* * *

 Louis goes downstairs to have dinner once he finished showering himself. He stayed playing footie with Liam for about an hour after the incident with Harry, and ended up sweating through his shirt. Needless to say, he definitely needed a shower.

When he gets to the dining hall, he spots Liam and Zayn at one of the big tables in the corner next to Jesy, Leigh-Anne, Perrie, and Jade. He picks up his food: a sizable piece of steak and some mashed potatoes, before taking the seat next to Zayn.

“Hi, Lou!” Perrie smiles. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing great, love, what about you?”

“I’ve been pretty great too. Happy now that I’m back with my girls.” Her smile grows, and the other girls smile as well.

Perrie is studying drama, same as himself, and she had introduced them to Leigh-Anne, her roommate, and Jade and Jesy, who are also roommates and lived across the hall from them. The four of them have always been inseparable since they have first met and they went together pretty much everywhere. They have also became really good friends of the three of them. The truth is that they are really cool and nice girls, and they like hanging out together to parties or bars and stuff. Perrie and Jade have taken care of him more than one night when he ended up completely wasted, and mocked him to death the day after.

They talk about their summers, all the laughter making it hard to actually eat. Jesy went to Italy and met a boy she felt madly in love with and now they are dating, making it work even with the distance between them. The girls are happy for her because Jesy’s last boyfriend turned out to be an idiot and this one, Fabrizzio, is not only extremely gorgeous but also really sweet and funny. Louis heard the stories of Carl, his previous man. And yes, the guy was an idiot who cheated on her more than once and mistreated her a lot, so he is glad too that she found someone who treats her the way she deserves the be treated.

“Tommo, isn’t that the guy you hit with the ball today?” Louis hears Liam say when a tall, curly-haired guy passes in front of them. Yeah, that’s definitely him. He is wearing another head scarf and he has also changed his clothes. Fuck, he looks pretty, Louis thinks.

“You hit him with a ball?” Jade asks, alarmed.

“Not on purpose!” Louis defends himself. “Harold! Over here,” he shouts, lifting up his hand. Harry stares at him, blinking for a moment before approaching them. “C’mere and sit with us!” Louis smiles.

“Okay! But my name is not Harold…” he says, his smile widening even though his eyebrows were pinching together in slight annoyance.

“Oh, trust us, he knows,” Zayn says. “He just likes making up names, so if I were you, I wouldn’t even try. We stopped trying two years ago.” Zayn chuckles and Louis laughs, proud of himself because yes, he loves changing people’s names.

“Really? Well, guess I’m a hopeless case then,” Harry giggles. “You’re Zayn, right? And you’re Liam, I think ...” he says, looking between the two of them.

“Yup, you got it right, mate,” Liam says, grinning.

“And what does he call you guys, then?” Harry teases, and Liam rolls his eyes fondly.

“Lima, Leeyum, Payno…”

“Zayner, Zee, DK Malik because apparently I’m a DJ even though I have never done anything remotely close…” Zayn adds, shoving Louis playfully and almost pushing him off his chair.

Harry snorts and Louis smiles. “Well, I’m Harry, by the way,” he says, introducing himself to the girls, and they all introduce themselves in return. He watches as Harry grins politely to the girl and he is sure of what he thought earlier when he first met him. He has never seen someone as beautiful as him. His soft, pink mouth, his big round and green eyes, his chocolate curls, his perfect teeth, the fucking way he smiles all the time...everything about him is endearing and just too much. He doesn’t notice he has been staring like a dumb at him until he feels Zayn’s elbow nudging in his ribs.

“So, who’s your roommate?” Louis asks,

“Mm…he’s Canadian, his name is Shawn.”

“Shawn? Shawn Mendes?” Liam asks, leaning forward, and Harry looks up, surprised.

“Yeah, why, do you know him?”

Liam nods “Yeah, he’s in the footie club with me and Louis, and he’s also with Zayn in art. He’s a great guy.”

Harry smiles. “Oh, well, I’m glad then. Wouldn’t like to have a dickhead as a roommate, would I?”

“Oh, I like him already!” Leigh-Anne says sassily, and everyone laughs.

“It’s the curls.” Louis says jokingly under the laughter, but with a serious face, and Harry snorts, hearing him. Louis tries to ignore the slight flush creeping up his face.

“So what do you guys do here?” Harry asks, looking away from Louis, and Louis lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in.

“I study English and Arabic.” Zayn replies.

“Mechanical engineering” Liam says.

“Really? And what do you want to do?” Harry asks.

“Uhm, I mean…it’s kinda reaching, but I’d love to build planes.”

“Sick!!”

“And I, Harold, study drama and screen studies.”

Harry’s eyes dart over to Louis and he smiles, dimple popping into existence.

“That’s a really cool career.”

Louis blushes. He doesn’t even know why, but he blushes all the same. “Three years, right? So this would be your last year here?”

“It would be…but I’m doing a Masters in screenwriting, so I’ll stay another year.”

“And what about you, girls?” Harry asks, kindly including the girls in their conversation.

“Well, I have to deal with Louis in drama,” Perrie jokes and laughs when Louis gasps, pretending to be offended. “But he’s cool, so we have a good laugh.”

“I’m about to start my second year of physics,” Jade replies.

“I study Music” Jesy adds, humming a melody to make her point.

“And I’m in economics.” Leigh-Anne finishes.

“Well, Harold, tell us about you. What do you study? Where are you from? What else do you do?” Louis inquires, the questions leaving his mouth faster than he could think of them, and Zayn snorts.

“Jeez, Louis, let him breathe, don’t ask him so many questions at once.”

Harry smirks, and again there’s that dimple on his cheek. Louis wonders how would it feel like poking his finger in it, but he has to stop thinking about it when Harry starts replying.

“Well, I’m 19, I’m here to study law, I’m from Cheshire and I did one year of Psychology back there, but found out that wasn’t really my thing, so I just decided to study law and my hometown university doesn’t have a great program, so I came here. And I also joined the photography classes, because I just love taking pictures. So many beautiful things that need to be preserved.”

Louis watches Harry’s mouth move as he speaks, completely endeared. He didn’t talk fast, like everyone else, but slowly, like he was really thinking carefully about what he was saying. It was almost mesmerizing.

“You take photos? Cool, man!” Zayn exclaims. “I wish I knew how to take cool pics, maybe you can give me some tips someday.”

“Uhm, yeah, I do, thanks! And of course, whenever you want to.” Harry replies, his smile turning bashful as the praise washes over him.

“Wicked!”  

When dinner is over, everyone goes back to their dorms. Louis is so tired that he doesn’t even go to Liam and Zayn’s that night. Instead, he just wraps himself in the clean sheets, turns on the air conditioner, and puts “90210” on Netflix. He doesn’t really pay attention to the show, though. His mind is preoccupied with something much more interesting and mysterious.

* * *

Louis likes Sundays. It’s kinda weird, because almost nobody does, but he has always found them quiet and good just for chilling out and relaxing before starting to work all over again on Mondays. Back in Donny, Sundays were always family day, especially after his mom and his step dad got divorced. They’d go the park and have long picnics and he would play games with his younger sisters. Now that he isn’t there, he always Skypes with his family those days and catches up with them to see how they’re doing. He has just finished talking with them all. Phoebe and Daisy are already saying that they miss him, even though they had just seen him the day before. He loves how fond the twins are of him. He is also very happy that Dan has come into their, but especially Jay’s, life. After Mark left and settled up with other women, Louis hadn’t really cared about his sadness. He was too focused on how sad his mum and sisters were. Sure, having your partners get divorced is not pretty at all, but the worst part for him was hearing his mum cry at night. But one year ago, at an event at the hospital she is working at, she met this business man, Dan, and a few weeks after, they started dating. Louis met him when he went back to Doncaster for the winter holidays and liked him instantly.

Louis closes his Mac, puts his snapback on, and grabs his skateboard. The other thing he loves about Sundays is that people are always resting in their rooms, so the campus is pretty free for him to go around with his board and practice some tricks. It’s not that he can go around like he would be able to do in a skateboard park, but at least he can practice some jumps and flips.

He goes around the concrete path,picking up the pace when the path goes a little bit down and manages to do a 180 with the board. He keeps on going and is just about to do another trick when he spots a familiar curly head and and almost trips. Harry is sitting on the ground, legs crossed and eyes closed, facing the sun. He is wearing a black tank top, some loose pants, and a USA flag bandana around his head, holding back his curls. Fuck, he is so pretty.

“Hi, Harold.” he says, going off his skateboard.

Harry opens his eyes and turns around his face to look at him. “Louis,” he responds with a smile.

“What’re you doing?” Louis asks, raising his eyebrow and popping his skateboard into his hand with a flick of his foot.

“I’ve just finish doing yoga.”

Louis picks up his skateboard and walks towards him. “Can I join you?” he asks, staring down at him. Harry nods, so he sits, facing him and crossing his legs as well. “Didn’t see you today at lunch,” he says, for lack of anything better to start a conversation off with.

“Oh, no…I went to have lunch out in the city. Wanted to hang around a bit, you know…get to know it.”

“And did you like it?” he asks, and Harry nods. “So, how did you spend your first night here? Missing home already?”

Harry lets out a laugh “No, not yet, but I’m guessing I will soon. And my first night was fine, Shawn doesn’t snore or sleep talk, so I’m guessing that’s a good thing.”

Louis snorts, crinkles by his eyes, and swallows when Harry’s gaze doesn’t waver from his own face. So he talks, just because he doesn’t know what else to do. Before he knows it, he’s asked Harry about his family, and then proceeds to talk about his own, feeling the sun warm on his back.

They keep on talking about many things: telling each other what they wanted to be when they were kids, talking about their favorite movies and music. Louis learns that Harry loves classic bands like Rolling Stones or Pink Floyd, but also more not so known singers like Ray Le Montagne. Louis tells him he is a football fan, that his favorites teams are Doncaster Rover Club and Barcelona, and that Messi is one of his idols. He learns that Harry, just like him, loves to sing but is shit at dancing and that one of his favorite movies from all time is “Love Actually.” Harry tells him, because Louis has seen that movie many times as well, that his favorite story there is either Keira Knightley’s or Colin Firth’s one, and Louis agrees with that, of course, and when he confesses him that he always cries at Titanic, Harry doesn’t laugh but grins and says that he cries a lot at movies too. They also talk about relationships.

“So...so are you dating someone?” Louis asks, trying to sound casual.

“No, ‘m not.” Harry shakes his head. “I had a boyfriend about two years ago, but it didn’t end well.” he shrugs his shoulders.

“What happened?” Louis wants to know.

“Uh...He cheated on me” Harry answers in a mumble. Louis stares at him, shocked, mouth and eyes opened.

“He did what?!” he asks, almost in a yell.

“Yeah…” Harry chuckles. “I was supposed to be out for the entire weekend but returned one day earlier ‘cause I wanted to give him a surprise. And, uh….when I came back I ran into Alan making out shamelessly with a guy from his class. He didn’t even apologize.”

“What a fucking idiot!” Louis lets out, angry. “Seriously, what a fucking douche! If I had a boyfriend, I’d never cheat on him. Let alone if it was someone like you!” he says before realizing he might have given too much information away.

Harry looks at him, smirking.

“I’m sorry this happened to you” Louis lets out.

“It’s okay. I mean, I was very angry at the moment, but I still believe in love, so…” He shrugs his shoulders and Louis smiles because how wonderful is Harry?

“That’s fantastic, Harold”

“So you’re not dating either?.” Harry asks and Louis shakes his head, ignoring the heat rising all up through his cheeks. “When did you realize you like guys?” Harry asks, curiously.

“Me?” Louis smiles “I have known I’m gay since I’m twelve years old.”

“And how did your family take it?”

“Really well, actually. Me mum is the best. She told me she would love me no matter what…” he smiles, proudly. “What about you?”

“I have known for awhile too. Since fourteen.” Harry explains and Louis nods, grinning.

“So tell me, Harold. What did you do back in Cheesire?”

“Uh, well, I used to work in a bakery…”

“Wait, so…you bake?” Louis asks.

“I do.”

“You’re so screwed!” he says, and Harry’s face falls.

“Why? Do you think it’s ridiculous?” he mumbles, his green eyes wide as his teeth sink nervously into his bottom lip. Louis realizes that his response was not worded properly and quickly corrects it.

“Oh fuck. No, mate, that’s not at all what I wanted to say. Of course it’s not ridiculous. But it happens that I’m literally shit at cooking, and I love cupcakes and cookies, so I’m gonna make you bake for me all the time.”

Harry smiles wide and laughs. “You don’t cook at all?”

“Tried doing pancakes once. Failed miserably.”

“Oh, I’m sure they weren’t that bad!”

“They looked like cat puke, Harold.” Louis grins, making Harry snort with a held back laugh. “I’m not even kidding, I swear. My sister started laughing so much she fell onto the floor. She took a picture and uploaded to instagram. Should have seen everyone’s comments.”

“Okay, alright, I believe you. But I’m afraid I don’t have a kitchen here, so I can’t cook for you.”

“Pity. I’m sure I’d have loved whatever you made.”

Louis looks at his watch. Wow. How had three hours gone by already? He didn’t realize he spent so much time talking with Harry, but you know, as the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun, and he had definitely enjoyed his talk with Harry.

“Well, Haz-” he says, standing up and brushing the loose grass off of his pants.

“Haz?”

“New nickname, it suits you.” he explains and Harry lets out an endearing, soft laugh.“I have to take a shower now, but I’ll see you around at dinner? You can eat with us again.” he says.

“Yeah, of course. I’d love that, Lou.” Louis’ heart does a jump at the nickname Harry has just picked for him, and he can feel the blush creeping into his cheeks.

“Great, see’ ya there, then!” he chirps before waving his hand and picking up his skateboard to return to his room.

He loved the talk with Harry, but he can’t take his mind off of how sad Harry looked when he thought Louis was implying that cooking was lame. He can’t help thinking that someone might have made him feel bad about what he likes in the past. And he hates that, because no one should feel that, no one should be ashamed about what makes them happy. Louis was mocked a few times when he was a kid because he enjoyed watching Grease, and apparently boys couldn’t like musicals. Luckily, he never really gave a fuck about what stupid people think, so he managed not to care and kept on doing what he liked. But he knows that being mocked is not fun and generally demoralizing, and he wishes that Harry had never had to deal with that.

* * *

Harry eats with them as he promised that night, and the next night, and the next, until he’s eating with Louis and his friends for lunch and dinner every day. He joins them in free periods too when he sees them around and looks happy to hang around with them. Liam and Zayn think he is amazing, so they always welcome him with open arms, more than pleased to have him around. They start having movie nights, the four of them either in Louis’ room or in Liam and Zayn’s one. They start playing FIFA and going out at night, and the more time they spend together, the closer Louis and Harry become. They kinda become attached to hip, fooling around and seeing each other after class, talking about life and random things while drinking Yorkshire tea or coffee together. It’s fair to say that Harry has become closer to Louis than anyone else, and the strength of their friendship, which had developed over only a few months was something most people didn’t achieve in a few years. And yes, Louis barely knows Harry, because it’s really only been about three months, but there’s nothing not to like. Harry...Well, Harry is just charming, that’s what he is. And everything he does has Louis smiling all the time.

Louis doesn’t like him per se. Sure, he loves spending time with him, he’s not gonna lie. Harry is funny, sweet, intelligent and a really easy-going person. But he doesn’t like him. Nope. Of course he doesn’t. Yes, he is gorgeous, and yes, he is perfect, and yes, he might be a little too infatuated with him…But no, he doesn’t like him. Or at least that is what he says to himself, on a daily basis, more often than he should. It’s not Louis’ fault that Harry is way too affectionate with him, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, always giggling and nuzzling into his neck. It’s not Louis’ fault that the two of them are touchy and love to show their love in really platonic ways.

The first time that he did that - kissed him on the cheek that is - Louis stood frozen, trying not blush or lose his composure. It was a few weeks after the classes started. They were at Louis’ room cause they didn’t want to annoy Shawn, and they had just finishing watching three episodes of Modern Family, both of them ending up with tears of laughter running down their cheeks. Before leaving and going back to his room, Harry hugged Louis and pressed his lips against his cheek. “‘M so happy we became friends, Lou,” he said, smiling while holding him tight. Louis had to blink and stop his brain from short circuiting.

“‘M happy too, Hazza,” he replied, hugging him back and forcing a normal smile onto his face.

Since then, touching became sort of  second nature between them. They would always find excuses to hug or tangle their fingers in the other’s one hair, or just to give each other kisses on the cheek. Platonically, of course. Just like the cuddles. Because friends cuddle all the time, right? It’s normal, Louis is sure. It is just a way of showing affection.

The first time they cuddled was one month after Harry gave him the kiss on the cheek. They were at Liam and Zayn’s room watching the remake of _Evil Dead_ , and he was trying not to fall asleep. Louis never liked horror movies, to be honest. Not because he is afraid of them, but because they bore him to death and they are usually really poorly done or way too predictable. He learned that night that Harry hates them too, but because he gets easily scared or queasy with blood. Louis’ heart almost jumps into his throat when he felt Harry snuggling into him and wrapping his arms around his body. A scary part came and Harry hid his face in Louis neck, whimpering and squeezing Louis’ hand tightly. Louis managed to keep on breathing like a normal human being and squeezed his hand back, chuckling. “It’s alright, Haz, it’s just a movie, the blood is fake,” he whispered, because apparently Liam and Zayn were too interested with the plot and he didn’t want to distract them. “I know that, dummy,” Harry laughed in a soft voice. “I just hate these films, especially if they are gory.” And if Louis didn’t pay attention for the rest of the movie, it was only because he spent his time talking in a low voice to Harry so he didn’t get scared.

Since that night, cuddling became very usual between the two of them. Liam and Zayn don’t even say anything when they see them watching TV, films, or football matches, especially the Barca ones Louis doesn’t ever miss, together, hugging each other. They don’t even question it, nor do any of the girls when they became too touchy in public and start tickling each other just because. Louis is sure that Harry does this because it is his way of showing affection, that he would do it with any person he was comfortable with. If Harry doesn’t cuddle Liam or Zayn  because he doesn’t spend as much time with them as he spends with Louis. Louis is sure this is the reason why no one says anything…because that’s the way Harry is. Or at least, that is what Louis tells himself. That is what he wants to believe. Because he won’t admit that his skin tingles every time Harry brushes his fingers over it. He won’t admit he really loves having Harry that close when they spend nights talking until late or watching Netflix, even if they have classes the following day. He won’t admit he loves making Harry laugh and loves the dimple that always appears on his cheek every time he smiles with those perfect teeth of his. He won’t admit any of that. Harry is his friend and became really, really close in those three months and that is the reason why he loves doing all that. Because he is affectionate too and also loves showing Harry how much he cares about him. Yes, that’s it. It has nothing to do with the fact that he may be starting to fall deeply in love with him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the first chapter! So, what do you think? If you liked it, please, please leave kudos. And I'd really love if you leave a comment, even a small one, to let me know what you think! Next chapter, Xander will appear and trust me...you will really, really hate him.


	2. A Box Full of Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, so here it's the second chapter. Thanks again to the wonderful Liz aka @Don_Stop_Larry who is beating this for me. English is not my first language so she is doing miracles with this. I hope you enjoy this part, it's quite a ride. Also, in case any of you is interested, I'm not going to be active that much these days on Twitter.  
> I'll leave you again the dates of the 2013-14academic year here [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) so, like I said in the previous chapter, you understand the dates I decided to use here.

It is one of those grey and cold days in Autumn in which Louis just wants to stay in bed sleeping, covered up by the duvet until it’s time for lunch. He is tired, he stayed up late last night watching movies because he couldn’t sleep, and he had a long week. But he can’t. Not when they have to take pictures of every single sports team in the university and he, as the footie captain, has to be present.

So there he is, on a Saturday morning, half asleep, but in his football uniform. He is standing next to Liam and Shawn, who seem just as tired as he is, watching the other people from the different sports teams. Louis has never really talked with them, not because he thinks other sports aren’t good, but because he never found the time to do so. Yes, he is really sociable and a very easy going person, but honestly there are so many people at the university he doesn’t have time to talk to them all, even if he comes across some of them more regularly than others. He is friends, though, of certain people like Leigh-Anne and Jade, who are on the hockey team, or Jamie Campbell-Bower, the captain of the lacrosse team, who is about to graduate in drama and who gave him some tips the first day he joined school. He also knows this new guy called Tom Daley, who is on the swim team and has a scholarship. Tom is shy and quiet, but he is a really nice and he is always smiling. He studies drama too and Perrie has some classes with him, so Louis has seen him around. Then there are these two guys from the Basketball team he shared some classes with an year ago, and then this guy, also from the Lacrosse team, whom he can’t stand at all: Xander Ritz.

Louis smiles wide when he sees Harry approaching them with a camera on his neck. He, along with some other students, are responsible for taking the photos of the different teams, here and at the games.

Louis takes a step forward to go and speak to Harry, but doesn’t realize there is a football on the ground, so of course he stumbles on it and falls flat on his face. Next to him, Liam and Shawn start cackling with laughter, doubled over and almost crying.

“Stop laughing! What are you laughing at?” Louis protests, rolling onto his back and sitting up. “It’s not funny!”

“Yes it is, mate,” Shawn says, wiping the tears off his cheeks.

“’S not!”

“Yeah, it kinda is.” Harry’s giggles reach his ears and Louis turns to see Harry standing over him, holding out a hand to help him up. Honestly, he can’t really argue with Harry, can he?

“Okay, yeah, I guess I was pretty clumsy there,” he smiles, crinkles by his eyes, letting Harry help him up.

Harry pulls him up, and when Louis is finally standing on his feet again, he shakes the grass off his pants and huffs.

“And I thought I was the clumsy one,” Harry teases, and Louis smirks

“Oh, you are. But I guess since we’ve been spending so much time together, you’ve rubbed off on me.”

“Ha-ha, very funny!” he replies, and Louis laughs.

“So, which teams did you already take photos of?” Liam asks, curious, and Harry turns to him.

“Uhm, swimming, hockey and the wrestling team. Now it’s your turn and then it’s the lacrosse team’s, and then I don’t know.”

“Can I see the pictures?”

“Sure!” Harry smiles, so he stands next to Liam, holding his camera before them and starting to click through the pictures one by one. Louis leans over their shoulders to take a look. They are really good. Even though they are basic photos, they are absolutely amazing. The lightening, the color, everything about them…and Louis doesn’t know shit about photography, but he can tell that Harry clearly knows what he’s doing.

Once Harry finished showing them the pictures, Louis gathers the team around and the coach joins them. The line up in two different rows, the row in behind standing up, and the row in front on their knees, Louis standing in the middle cause he’s the captain.

Harry stands in front of them and lifts up the camera to his face “Okay, everybody smile at the count of three, yeah?” he shouts.

“Aren’t you gonna ask us to say cheese? I’m disappointed, Harold.” Louis teases and Harry shakes his head, laughing.  

“One, two, three!” Harry says. and they can hear the sound of the shutter. Harry takes a couple more of photos and then lowers his camera, looking through them quickly before pronouncing them good and moving over towards the lacrosse team.

The lacrosse team is next to them, so they can hear what they are talking about and they can hear them laughing and joking around. Jamie is talking with a shorter guy that Louis has never seen before about his girlfriend of four years. Louis remembers how when he first saw Jamie and talked to him, he thought he was gorgeous, but he later learned that he was dating Lilly, so he told himself not to go there. He thought it was a shame at first because he really found Jamie to be quite beautiful, but also had to admit that he and Lilly make a really great couple and that she is a really nice and beautiful girl.

Harry’s voice reaches his ears and he looks around to see Harry talking to Xander only a few feet away from Louis and the rest of the footie team.

“And you’re the photographer? I think it should be the other way round. I think you’re the one who should be being photographed. You’re too pretty to be behind the camera,” Louis hears Xander say with a smirk on his face. What the fuck? What kind of pick up line is that? He flirted better when he was thirteen, for fuck’s sake.

“Uhm, thanks…” Harry says softly, his cheeks coloring slightly.

“It’s the truth. You have a model’s face.”

“I think I wanna throw up in my mouth” Louis says to Liam, fake gagging, and his friend snorts.

“You’re so jealous, man.”

“What? Are you high or something? Why the fuck would I be jealous of Harry? I mean, Xander isn’t bad looking, but he has the intelligence of a snail!”

And it is the truth. Louis can’t deny Xander has the looks. He is a little bit taller than Harry is, has a broad and well-built body, light blue eyes, and dark hair - in short, he’s basically one of those hot guys that everyone is attracted to, but he is arrogant, stupid, and loves himself way too much. He knows Jamie can’t stand him and had a few issues with him because two years ago, when they picked Jamie instead of Xander as the captain. Xander, being the absolute dick that he is, started complaining, saying that he deserved the spot because back in United States, he was the star of the team, and that just annoyed Jamie, and half of the team, even more.

“I‘m not saying you’re jealous of Harry, mate. I’m saying you’re jealous of Xander because you’re fucking in love with Harry.”

Louis freezes still and turns to face Liam slowly. “What are you talking about, Liam?”

“You know I’m telling the truth, Tommo.”

“Harry is my friend.”

“And you’re in love with him.” he raises his eyebrows.

“I’m not” he says.

“Okay, whatever you say, mate,” he replies, but it is obvious that Liam doesn’t believe him in the slightest.

“I mean, he is beautiful, of course, everybody can see that. But I don’t like him like that … we’re just friends.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Liam answers. Shawn doesn’t say a word, but smiles all the same at Liam, raising his eyebrows as well before giggling, as if they had talked about it before.

Louis is annoyed because Liam is right. Who is he trying to convince when he says he doesn’t fancy Harry? Of course he likes him: Harry is cute, intelligent, funny, everything anyone could ever want. But he is not in love with him, no. Fancying someone and being in love are two completely different things, and Louis just likes Harry because they are really good friends and spend too much time together. He will get over him eventually, he is just thrilled because Harry is a new person in his life, that’s it.

When they finish with all the pictures, they have lunch, and after that, Louis goes back to his room. He lays on his bed and grabs his copy of “The Taming of the Shrew” to finish the last pages of the book. He has an exam about Shakespeare next week and Mr. Grimshaw is really strict when he corrects papers. Yeah, Grimshaw doesn’t love him, but he is also really fair with notes and he is a great teacher, even if Louis doesn’t want to admit it. So he wants to do his best and pass. After dinner, he stays up a few more hours doing an assignment that has been driving him crazy the past two weeks and has to hand in on Monday. When he finishes at last, he sighs and takes a shower so he can go to bed and not think about school for a while.

When he is finally on his bed, his phone buzzes so he picks it up. He smiles when he sees who the message is from, and he unlocks his phone.

 **_Harry:_ ** _You up?_

 **_Louis:_ ** _Not for long!_

 **_Harry:_ ** _Wanna watch a movie? I’m bored, Shawn is already asleep, and we only saw each other a few minutes in the morning :(_

 **_Louis:_ ** _I’d love to, Haz. But I’m exhausted and I’ve been studying all day and I’ve to wake up tomorrow early :(_

 

Fuck. He’s not lying, his eyelids feel heavy and he really is tired.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _:( :( :(_

 

He can see Harry pouting. He always pouts like a baby when he wants something, and everyone, especially him, is too weak to resist him.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _I can give you a back massage if you want._

 **_Harry:_ ** _and bring some candies_

 

Louis smiles widely at the screen before typing in the answer.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _I’ll pick the movie._

 **_Harry:_ ** _yay! Be right there._

 

Louis leaves his phone over the desk and puts his glasses on. He didn’t need them all the time, but his eyes are tired, and if he watches a movie without them, he’ll have a massive headache in the morning.

A few minutes later he can hear a knock on his door, so he tells the person to come in, and when the door opens, he can see Harry with a pack of sour gummy worms in his hand. He is not wearing the headscarf he usually uses, and he is dressed in some joggers and a white t-shirt. As much as Louis loves how bandanas look on him, he also loves when his hair is all messy and kinda falls over his forehead and into his eyes. Harry sits next to Louis on his bed and turns on the TV.

“I like your glasses” he says with a smile.

“Oh thanks.” Louis replies, trying not to blush.

“You were reading ‘The Taming of the Shrew’? That's one of my favourite Shakespeare's books. Do you want to see ’10 Things I Hate About You'? You know, because it is inspired on it?”

“Thought I was going to pick the movie” Louis raises his eyebrows, teasing him. “But yeah, I love that one, so let’s watch it.”

Harry smiles before putting on Netflix and looking for it. The movie starts and Harry snuggles into Louis, opening the pack of candies.

They watch the movie, saying the dialogue out loud because they’ve both seen it so many times they already know it by heart. Harry jokes and tells Louis he reminds him of Kat because he is a badass, a statement that makes him laugh, and in the middle of the film, Harry suddenly turns to him, a question practically bursting from him.

“So, between Joey, Patrick, and Cameron: who would you kill, who would you kiss, and who would you marry?”

“Kill Joey, of course. And the other two are difficult, but I think I’m gonna go with kissing Cameron  and marrying Patrick.”

“Really?” Harry says, “I’d kiss Patrick and marry Cameron!”

“Why?”

“Well, Patrick is hot. But Cameron is just sweet and kind and dunno, he’s also funny.”

Louis’ stomach does a backflip, because he always thought that he was most similar to Cameron out of all characters in this movie. He wonders if that means he has a chance with him, but Cameron is a fictional character and he is real, and people always fall for fictional characters. Why would he want Harry falling in love with him, either way? They are just friends.

They finish the movie an hour or so later, and Harry stands up, stretching and getting ready to head back to his room. Louis stands and follows Harry to the door.

“Wanna hang around tomorrow afternoon?”

“Can’t.” Harry shakes his head “Have to meet up with Xander, but after that?”

Louis ignores the annoyance he feels in the mouth of his stomach with Harry’s reply. After all, he has no right in feeling that way, does he?

“With Xander? Xander Ritz?”

“Yup, he is failing psychology and he knows I studied it last year, so he asked me if I could help him with the exam he has next week.”

Louis doesn’t like this. At all. “And you’re going to help him on a Sunday? What a saint!” he smiles, trying not to give any indication of how much he hates the mere idea of Harry spending time with someone like Xander.

“Well, I have your match this Monday! So I had to make some time for other things tomorrow.”

Louis smiles at that. Harry had to go to their matches anyway to take pictures, but he had gone to the ones he didn’t have to go to just to cheer Louis on.

“But we can see each other after the class, right? And we can watch another movie or whatever you want. I owe you some massages.”

“Yeah, of course we can, Hazza. See ya’ tomorrow then?”

“See ya tomorrow” Harry grins before leaving.

* * *

Louis hates it. He hates when Harry can’t spend the afternoons with them because he has to help Xander. And he knows he has no right in disliking the situation. He knows it’s not rational and that he and Harry are just friends, so he shouldn’t feel jealous at all. Okay, what if he’s just a little bit jealous? Nobody ever said you couldn’t feel jealous about a friend, and he just wishes he could spend more time with Harry, that’s it. They still eat and have movie nights together, but now that Harry has to help Xander with psychology, their time together is very limited.

Harry still goes to his football practices to watch them train and take pictures, though, and that somehow makes Louis play better. He tells himself it’s because there’s someone there rooting for him, but he knows that’s really not the answer.

Winter holidays are a day away, and Louis is already whining because he won’t see the guys for almost a whole month. He is going to miss them, and as much as he is happy to go back to Doncaster and see his family after three months, he low-key wishes he could stay with his friends.

Louis finishes his last class of the term with Mr. Grimshaw, who didn’t seem to hate him as much as usual and goes to the cafeteria, where he arranged to meet with Harry. When he enters, he sees him sitting at the table in the corner reading and drinking a coffee, with his usual green head scarf and a grey sweater that looks cozy on him. Louis smiles and walks towards him. As soon as he does, Harry puts down the book he’s reading.

Louis picks it up and reads the title out loud, “The only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need.” Harry blushes and looks down. “Cool!”

“You think it’s cool?” Harry asks.

“I mean, I’ve never read about it…But the book looks good. Is this, like, your personality depending on your sign, or what?” he asks, tilting his head in curiosity.

Harry nods “Yeah, kinda. I mean, it’s much more complex than that, but yeah, you can put it like that!”

“Yeah? Complex how?” Louis inquires, leaning forward a little bit, resting his forearms on the table.

“Well…most of people think it’s only your sun sign which influences in your personality but…”

“Sun sign?” Louis’ eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

“Your sign. You’re a Capricorn…I’m Aquarius…those are our sun signs,” he explains and Louis nods. “But the truth is that just that sign by itself is very general. I mean, saying someone is a certain way just because they are a Scorpio or whatever is not accurate because there are other factors that also have lots of influence on us, like the the moon sign or the rising sign.”

“Wow, I have no idea what those are, but it sounds interesting.”

“Well, the thing with moon and rising signs is that they depend not only on _when_ you were born, but also on _where_. And while the moon sign has more influence in our emotional side and it’s more connected to our subconscious, the rising or ascendant sign is kind of our mask? It’s the way we tend to present ourselves to other people, and sometimes our automatic responses. And there also other stuff that plays a role in our personalities, like where are Mercury, Venus, Mars…And it’s so interesting! I mean, I still don’t know much about it, but I think it’s really cool how the planet and stars have so much to do with our personality.”

Louis grins. Whenever Harry starts talking about something he’s passionate about, his eyes just get really bright and he speaks a little bit faster than normal, but in that deep, entrancing voice, as usual. “Some people say, and I think it’s really logical, that just like the moon has influence on the water, the sun, moon and stars also have influence in our bodies, which are 70% liquid! And it’s also sick the way every sign has an element or a quality like cardinal, fixed, or mutable and…” he suddenly stops, leaning down his gaze and chewing his lower lip. “Sorry, I just got carried away … I’m probably boring you to death.” He lets out in a chuckle without looking up. “You probably think this is all lame.”

“What are you sorry for, Haz? I asked you about it. And I don’t think its boring at all. Just because I’ve never read about this or I didn’t know, it doesn’t mean it’s lame. On the contrary, I think it’s really cool. I don’t know who made you think this is stupid, but you shouldn’t apologize or feel stupid for the things you like and enjoy,” he answers, his tone and expression serious. This is the second time that this has happened, the second time that he’s seen Harry embarrassed about something he loves doing, and he hates the idea of someone shaming him because of it.

Harry grins, the dimple in his cheek that Louis loves so much popping out. “Thank you, Lou,” he replies.

“So, how can I know what my moon and rising signs are? Can you tell me about them?” Louis asks, wanting Harry to be as happy as he had been moments ago. He always wants Harry to be happy.

“Uhm, well, like I said, they also depend on where you were born and all that, so I wouldn’t know. But you can check your astral card in the internet! I found my stuff there.”

“And what about you?”

“I have both my moon and rising sings in Libra. I’m still trying to figure out exactly how to read it, though, because I only started learning about Astrology this year, so… yeah.”

Louis just smiles at him. “That’s really cool. So, how was your day, Hazza?” he asks.

They talk about their weeks, because they’d both barely had time to see each other in the past week, and hadn’t talked about what they were doing for their holidays. Both of them, just like many of the students who didn’t live in Manchester City, are returning a week earlier to the Uni because they want to study for the first semesters exams, so they will end up being away for only three weeks instead of four.

They finish up lunch and, since Harry doesn’t have to give classes to Xander that afternoon, he goes with Louis, and the rest of the afternoon is spent the way Louis had secretly hoped it would … with Harry.

* * *

Louis doesn’t admit that he feels like crying when he says goodbye to Harry, Liam and Zayn the following day. It had never happened to him before, being emotional and sad because he’s about to leave, but he has a knot in his throat that is hard to swallow. He hugs the three of them, and when Harry pulls him into his arms and tells him he is going to miss him a lot, he does his best not to break down there. Louis waves at them before getting into the car that will drop him at the train station.  It’s really cloudy and it’s just starting to rain, and although he usually loves rainy days, he feels a little bit too sad today to enjoy it.

It’s not a long trip. The ride from Manchester Piccadilly to Doncaster is about an hour and a half, and he has always enjoyed looking out through the window during train trips, staring at the green fields and watching the landscape change in front of his eyes.

When he finally enters his wagon, he looks up for his seat and settles himself on it, leaving his backpack at his feet. The seat in front of him is empty so he stretches his legs as he puts in his headphones. The train starts to move and Louis leans his head against the cold window, adjusting the beanie over his head. Suddenly, his phone buzzes in his pocket, so he grabs it and stares at the message lighting up his screen.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _Missing you already XX_

 

He can’t control the smile that spreads over his face when he reads it. He hides in his seat, feeling the heat on his cheeks and bites his lower lip softly, responding quickly.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _Missing you too XXX_

 

It’s crazy how important Harry has become to him in the last months. And yes, Liam and Zayn are his best friends, but he has a special bond with Harry and feels like he connected with him like he hasn’t connected with anyone before. He doesn’t know how to describe it. Louis sighs and closes his eyes, falling asleep, and only wakes up when he hears the voice on the speakers saying they have already arrived in Doncaster.

When he gets off the train, he sees Dan waiting for him at the station. His mum’s boyfriend smiles at him and hugs him tightly, patting his back.

“Good to see you, Lou!” he smiles at him.

“Hi, Dan. Good to see you too,” he grins back, following him to the car. They don’t talk much during their drive back home, and he notices Dan is a little bit nervous, and he can’t help wondering why. Dan is usually very talkative and chatty and he is just quiet right now. But maybe he was just having an off day, and Louis knows about those, so he doesn’t push him to make conversation.

As soon as he enters his home, Phoebe and Daisy run to him and hug him, giggling.

“Louis!” they scream, excited.

“Hi girls! How are you? I’ve missed you!” he says, bending down so he can hug them back. “C’mere and give your favourite brother another cuddle.” Daisy and Phoebe hug him again, each kissing one of his cheeks.

Fizzy and Lottie hug him after.

“Hi, Louis” Lottie says, rolling his eyes when Louis tousles her hair.

“So, where’s Mum?” Louis asks.

“She’s at work. Will arrive at night…speaking of which, she asked me to tell you we’re going to have dinner today, all together. She wants to tell you something.”

“Is everything okay?” Louis asks.

“Yeah, it is!” Dan answers, smiling.

Louis nods, furrowing his eyebrows, feeling like they’re all hiding something very important from him. He is about to speak when the twins ask him to join them in watching “Tangled”, and because he has missed them, and also because he loves that movie, he accepts and sits with them on the couch. They laugh all the way through it, snorting especially obnoxiously in the scenes where Maximus appears, and when the movie is about to finish, Louis hears the sound of the keys unlocking the door.

His heart jumps in his chest when he sees his mum entering the house, and he realizes why Dan was so quiet in the car and refused to speak. Jay is fucking pregnant. Really, really fucking pregnant.

“Boo Bear! You’re home!” she smiles, opening her arms up for a hug.

“Mum, what the fuck?!” is the only thing he can say.

“Language, Lou, the girls! But … I’m pregnant...Surprise?”

“Yeah! I can tell you’re pregnant!” Louis gapes at her, not even sure what to say.

“Oh, darling. I know I should have told you before, but you were at Uni and I didn’t want to tell you by phone or Skype!”

“How long…?”

“Almost six months.”

“Six months? Jesus, I need to sit down.”

“You better … ‘cause that’s not it,” she says with a smile, and Louis falls into a chair.

“What do you mean that’s not it?”

“Momma is having twins!” Phoebe screams.

“Twins?” Louis asks, incredulous. He has to be dreaming. Or maybe he doesn’t know and it is April already and they are pulling a joke on him.

“A boy and a girl!” Daisy adds.

“You’re not going to be the only boy anymore.” Jay says, grinning.

Louis rubs his hands over his face, sighing. Okay, this is real, this is happening. He looks at his mum, who is glowing and looks happier than she has since she divorced Mark. And even though he wishes they could have told him earlier, he can’t get angry when his mum is radiant like that, so he stands slowly and he walks towards her, hugging her tightly.

“I’m happy for you, Mum!” he says, but almost immediately pulls away because Jay is crying against his chest. “What? No, Mum! Why are you crying? I’m not mad, I promise!”

“No…it’s just I’m happy to have my baby home,” she replies, drying her eyes quickly. “Well, I’m going to get ready for dinner. You all go and sit and wait for me, yeah?”

So Louis obeys and goes to the dining room, sitting at his usual spot. Fizzy sits next to him and grins.

“Mum has been really emotional lately, she cries a lot.”

When Jay comes back, they start eating. Louis tells them about Uni, and everybody asks him how Harry, Zayn, and Liam are doing. Louis was always the kind of person to share things with his family, so they know about his friends at University and about his classes and the football team.

When they get to the dessert, Jay tells them they have something to announce. Louis sucks in a breath; how many _more_ things are going to happen in a day?

“Your mum and I are getting married.” Dan says, with a nervous look on his face. “I know I’m not your father, and I don’t intend to replace him by any means. I just love your mum and want to make her happy, and I hope you can accept me as her husband, because nothing would mean more to me than having your approval.”

He throws an inquiring look especially at Louis, and Louis can clearly see that this is really important to him, and the truth is he really likes Dan. Sure, he doesn’t want his mum to suffer again because of a man. He doesn’t want her to get her heart broken for the third time, but he trusts Dan and can tell he really means it when he says he wants to make her happy, so he nods, and Dan sighs with apparent relief.

“When?” Louis asks, smiling, and his mum’s smile only grows.

“Next year, in July.” his mom replies, placing her hand on top of Dan’s.

“That’s…that’s amazing, Mum. I’m happy for you both,” he says, and when he does, Jay starts crying again, sobbing even more when all his siblings congratulate them and say how thrilled they are. Dan smiles at him and Louis grins back, nodding again.

Louis helps wash the dishes, and then he finishes watching the movie with the twins. He promises them they will watch another movie the next day when they ask him to pick another film to see, and he has to refuse because it’s late already and he feels too tired.

He kisses his mum good night and goes upstairs to his room so he can get ready for bed … he’s had a long day. The first thing he does, however, is pick up his phone and send a quick message to Harry, needing to share the news with him.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _My mum is having twins! I’m going to have a little sister and a little brother! And she is going to get married too! Can you believe it?!_

 

He drops the phone on his bed and goes to take a shower. He stays there a while, like he always does when he wants to think, and after he finishes, he puts on his pajama pants and brushes his teeth. Back in his room, he turns off the lights, flopping down on the bed, and picks up his mobile again to read the reply.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _That’s amazing, Lou! Are you happy?_

 **_Louis:_ ** _Yeah, I am. Just a lot to absorb, ya know? But yeah, I am._

 **_Harry:_ ** _well, I’m happy for you, then! Send your mum my congratulations!_

 

Louis grins. What did he do to deserve a friend like Harry?

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _haha, will do!_

 

He presses send and stares at the screen, drumming his fingertips on his leg over the duvets.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _wanna Skype tomorrow?_

 **_Harry:_ ** _yeah, would love that! :)_

 **_Louis:_ ** _okay, talk to you tomorrow, then! Night, Harold._

 **_Harry:_ ** _Bye, Lewis_

 

Louis locks his phone and leaves it on his desk, realizing the first person he wanted to tell about what happened was Harry. Not Liam or Zayn, but Harry. Wow. He feels a little bit guilty. Zayn and Liam need to know too, so he sends a message to them before turning over and falling asleep.

* * *

Louis wakes up the following day with the screams of the twins, who enter his room, giggling and yelling. They jump into his bed and start tickling him, and Louis is just too tired to understand what’s really going on. He covers his head with his pillow, trying to get rid of the noises, but Daisy takes it off easily and opens his eyes.

“You promised you would watch another movie with us,” she says, putting on her best pout.

“Yeah, you promised,” Phoebe joins her, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting just like her sister.

Louis moans and wakes up with a yawn. “Alright, alright. Lemme brush my teeth and I’ll go downstairs. You go and put the movie in, okay?”

Phoebe and Daisy smile and climb off of his bed, leaving the room at a run. Louis groans into his pillow before pulling himself out of bed. He enters his bathroom, washes his face, brushes his teeth, and puts on a pair of grey joggers, his Stone Roses t-shirt, and a black beanie over his head.

When he goes to the living room, he sits next to Fizzy, who is going to watch the movie with them.

“So, what are we going to watch?” he asks.

“Lilo and Stitch,” Fizzy says with a yawn, and Louis gives her a tired smile.

“Ah, one of my favorites!”

Louis texts with Harry all through the movie, ignoring the way Fizzy stares at him with a raised eyebrows, and bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing when Harry sends him one of his stupid jokes that, despite making no sense at all,l he very much enjoys. They arrange to do the video call after lunch, so he eats very quickly and doesn’t pay much attention to what his family tells him, giving simple answers in the hopes of getting to his computer faster.

After finishing, he sits in the living room with his Mac on the table in front of him and smiles widely when Harry appears on screen. Harry waves at him and grins when Louis waves back. He is not wearing a headscarf at usual, but a green beanie that matches the color of his eyes.

“Sup, Harold?”

“Heyy, how was the trip back home?”

“Was alright …what about yours?”

“Alright as well … nothing much interesting happens in between Manchester and Holmes Chapel.” Harry laughs, and Louis grins, just happy to see Harry’s face and hear his voice, even if it had only been a day.

They start talking. Harry asks him more about the siblings he is about to have and about his mum’s wedding, and Louis tells him he is shocked but thrilled, and that it’s going to be awesome not to be the only boy. He tells him he is going to teach his baby brother about football and turn him into a Donny fan just like he is, and that he is going to teach him everything he knows. Harry listens, smiling, like he always does when Louis talks.

Suddenly, his mom shouts at him, “Boo Bear, I’m going out, need anything from the - Oh, Didn’t know you were Skyping!” she takes a step forward and stares at the screen. “Oh, hello! You must be Harry, right?”

Harry smiles and Louis can’t help blushing, though for what reason, he isn’t even sure.

“I am, nice to meet you, Mrs. Poulson.” Harry replies politely.

“Oh, you can call me Jay, dear! I’ve heard a lot about you. Louis cares about you very much!”

“Mum…” Louis groans softly, feeling his cheeks turn an even brighter shade of pink.

“I’d hope so.” Harry chuckles “Your son is a great friend. Also, congratulations on the babies, Lou told me about it!”

“Oh he is, isn’t he? And thanks very much, love, we are all really thrilled! Well, I need to go now, but I’m glad I got to meet you!”

When Jay leaves, Harry starts laughing. “Boo Bear, huh?”

“Harold, shut up, or I swear…”

“I like that nickname for you, Boo. It suits you.” he teases, a half smile playing on his lips, and Louis shakes his head, biting his own lip to keep from smiling.

They talk a few more hours, about anything really, just chatting and giggling like two kids. And they continue like that, calling each other by Skype or FaceTime the following days.

Everyday, after lunch and after dinner, they connect to their macs so they can talk and sometimes they even watch movies and discuss it online. He also talks and texts Zayn and Liam, but he doesn’t call either of them. It’s not his fault that Harry had became a really good friend of his. Plus, Zayn and Liam are probably too busy talking at each other to even pay him any attention should he try to call.

 

Louis doesn’t hear from Harry next day day. He sends him a message, but Harry never responds, and that makes him feel a weird twist on his stomach. Louis can’t believe it’s already the 23rd, which means that his birthday is the next day.

It’s always the same; he never puts too much fuss into his birthday because it’s so close to Christmas that many people forget about it. With time, eventually he learned not to care, but that year he feels kinda thrilled about it.

Jay enters the kitchen to speak to him, “Already finished talking to Harry?” she grins, and Louis shakes his head, telling her they haven’t spoken that day. He tries to ignore the quizzical look his mother throws at him, probably because he knows Jay can read him better than anyone. Ever since he started video calling Harry, his mother, and eventually Fizzy, asked him more than once if he and Harry were just friends, or more than that. Louis hated when they asked those kinds of questions, because the answer was always the same, that they were just really good friends. “You’re turning 22 tomorrow, have anything special planned?”

“No, not really…I was hoping maybe we could go and have dinner out somewhere? Keep it low profile, you know…don’t really fancy doing it big.”

“Yes, of course, love. Anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“Lemme think about it and I’ll let you know, okay?” he says with a smile.

“Yes, yes, whatever you want, Boo. It’s your special day,” she says, hugging him and kissing his head. Louis hugs her back, resting a hand over her belly, trying to feel the babies, but they weren’t always active, and his mum needed to get some things done, so Louis retired to the living room, laying across the couch.

Louis spends the rest of the day staring at his home screen and texting Zayn and Liam. Harry hasn’t answered him all day, and even though he knows he probably has a good excuse for it, he fears he has done something wrong.

“If you continue staring at your phone like that, you’re going to burn a hole in it,” Lottie looks at him, teasing.

“What are you suggesting?”

“You know what I’m suggesting, you are expecting a text from him.”

“Well, he is my friend.” he replies, annoyed.

“Mhmmm…” she says, rolling her eyes. What the fuck?

“Why do you all keep acting like you know something I don’t know? Harry is my friend, that’s it. I don’t know how more many times I have to tell you that!”

“Are you trying to convince me or are you trying to convince yourself?” she shoots back, raising her eyebrows.

Louis opens his mouth to speak, but he can’t really think of a smart reply. “Shut your mouth, Charlotte,” he ends up saying, turning his gaze to the TV and trying to ignore her. Lottie giggles and shakes her head.

It’s 23.59 and he still hasn’t replied to him in all day, and he doesn’t want to admit it, but he feels kinda sad and disappointed. Suddenly, when the clock hits midnight, his phone starts buzzing in his hand and his heart jumps in his chest when he sees Harry’s name on the screen. He runs upstairs, locks himself into his room, and picks up.

_“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Lou! Happy birthday to you!”_

Louis starts giggling like a little kid, face hurting because of how big his smile is.

“Hi, Haz”

_“Sorry I didn’t reply all day. We went out with my family and I wanted to save the battery so I could call you.”_

As soon as Harry says this, Louis smiles even wider, feeling relieved.

“Well, you’re forgiven then.”

_“So, 22 years, huh? You’re officially three years older than me!”_

“Shut up, Harold” he says and Harry snorts.

_“What are you going to do?”_

Louis answers him what he told to his mum earlier that day, that he doesn’t want anything big. They talk a few more hours, and Louis knows his sisters will probably kill him because they are always the first ones in wishing him happy birthday, and this year, Harry was the first one.

_“Lou, I have to go now…but I hope you have an amazing time yeah? Enjoy your day for me!”_

“Will do. Thanks so much for calling, Hazza.”he smiles.

_“You’re welcome. And oh, Lou? I’m glad we have become friends.”_

“I’m glad too, Haz”

_“Well, bye, Boo!”_

Harry hangs up and so does Louis. He’s grinning like an idiot, unable to stop smiling, and he can feel his cheeks heating up because Harry called him Boo … it had been embarrassing before, but now, it was almost endearing. His phone buzzes in his hand again, and he looks down, seeing a message from Harry.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _I really mean it, Lou. I’m lucky to have you as my best friend. Love you xx_

 

His heart skips a beat before starting to beat wildly. With shaking fingers, he types the reply

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _Lucky to have you and love you too!_

 

He is biting his lip, smiling way too much, cheeks flushed and all and then, he realizes it. He loves Harry. Not just, like, friendship love, either. No, he really actually is very much in love with Harry. There’s no more denying it, no more lying to himself. He is gone for him. Really, really gone. Fuck. He is screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well so...Xander is officially in this story and if you hate him already, you haven't seen nothing yet. I hope you enjoyed this and pleas, please, if you did leave kudos or a comment below! (The fic is finished and I'm waiting to upload the chapters as soon as they are corrected, but I swear, comments help me to write other stuff and well, I worked hard for this so I'd love to know your opinion)  
> Anyways, see you in the next chapter which I hope to upload soon (hopefully next week)


	3. A Funny Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I was going to wait a little bit more to post this but since we got bs I figured why not doing it now so we could have a distraction? This chapter is pretty funny in my opinion. You will hate Xander even more but guess who's is coming in? OUR IRISH FELLA, NIALL JAMES HOORAN.  
> Thanks again to Liz (@Dont_Stop_Larry) for beating my fic and doing miracles with it. Again [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is the photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University. Dates are confusing so maybe this will help you to understand why did I choose the dates that I chose. And [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161640225285/meme-au-for-my-dancing-in-the-rain-fic) is a post meme now that we have all characters in scene. Enjoy your read!

Liam and Zayn text him a little bit after his call with Harry, wishing him a happy birthday, and many other people from Uni write on his Facebook page, and the morning after, he wakes up to his mum hugging him and telling him how important he is to her, how he will always be her baby-son, and it’s perfect.

That night, they end up going to an Italian restaurant called “Villas Romana”, and Louis eats so much he feels his stomach could explode in any moment. The food at the university is not bad per se, but he missed eating excellent meals, he missed going out with his family and having a good laugh with them. They order a chocolate cake for dessert ,and Louis makes a wish before blowing up the 22 candles. What he wished, he thinks, is a secret that he intendeds to keep it until his death. Not that he is a person full of secrets, but this one in particular is something for him to keep close to his heart.

On Christmas day, he talks with Harry again, and this time he also calls Zayn and Liam because he feels a little bit guilty for having ignored them the past ten days. Liam tells him he has been talking with Sophia Smith, a girl from his town who also attends Manchester University and studies fashion. He feels a little bit sorry for Zayn. Even though he had never admitted having feelings for Liam, Louis knows there’s something going on there between the two of them. But if Zayn is annoyed, he doesn’t tell Louis when Louis phones him. He just tells him that he is happy for Liam and changes the subject quickly. Louis doesn’t quite believe him, but who is he to call Zayn out when he’s been denying his feelings for Harry until one night ago? Of course, having finally admitted that he crazy about Harry doesn’t mean he will do anything. Harry is his best friend and it’s better to keep things as they are, so as not to mess things up or ruin the amazing relationship they have. Zayn probably feels the same way about Liam, so he doesn’t really blame him, and he doesn’t push the subject any further.

The following days go as usual. He video calls Harry, he texts Zayn and Liam every now and then,  letting them know he is okay and that he is looking forward to see them again. Louis realizes he misses his friends much more during the winter break than during the summer one, and he can’t really figure out why … maybe it’s the spirit of Christmas or something.

That Sunday, the 29th of December, he has a picnic with his siblings, despite the chilly wind blowing through the streets. They all spend the afternoon in the park playing games and eating a lemon pie  Fizzy has cooked, which meant all the food was absolutely amazing, and when Lottie tells Louis that she has a boyfriend, Louis does his best not to show his overprotective side. He can’t help it. He still sees Lottie as a little kid, even though she is fifteen years old, and he can’t believe she is growing up that fast.

He doesn’t go out for New Year’s Eve, but he knows that, had he been with Harry, he would have tried to kiss him.

* * *

After three weeks in Doncaster with his family, Louis finds himself at the train station, ready to go back to Manchester. He had the most amazing time with them, but the truth is he wants to go back and see everyone again. He doesn’t sleep on the trip, he just listens to music and stares outside the window, watching the way the sun reflects over the green fields and naked trees that dance in front of his eyes. He loves winter, probably because he loves the sensation of feeling cozy and small inside his oversized hoodies and beanies. But he also loves cold, loves sleeping all covered up in blankets and feeling a hot cuppa tea between his hands.

The way back to Manchester seems longer to him than other days, and he can’t wait just to arrive and see everyone. If he was being honest with himself, though, he really just wanted to see Harry again.

When he arrives, the first thing he does is going to Harry and Shawn’s room, but drops his gaze down and walks away when Shawn tells him Harry has not arrived yet.

He goes to his room and jumps into the bed, falling asleep instantly. He couldn’t sleep the night before because he was up all night thinking about Harry and his newfound feelings and trying to figure out what he was going to do, and coming back to school is always stressful, but now that he is finally back there in his dorm and he is lying on his bed, he can’t help but falling into Morpheus’s arms.

He doesn’t know how long he sleeps, but he wakes up when he feels someone touching his shoulder. He opens his eyes slowly and sees Harry there, sitting next to him.

“Hi, Lou,” he grins. “Shawn told me you went to our room looking for me?”

Louis scrambles out from under the covers, which he must have pulled around himself in his sleep and throws himself at Harry to hug him. Harry giggles and hugs him back.

“I’ve missed you too,” he says into Louis’ shoulder.

“Sorry, I just really missed those curls of yours,” Louis says, only half joking as he messes with his hair, because the truth is that yes, he missed Harry’s curls. And his smile. And his eyes. And pretty much everything else about him.

“Listen, I have something for you? A late birthday present!” Harry tells him, and Louis lets him go, sitting back on the bed.

“What? Hazza, you didn’t have to get me anything!”

“I know…but I still wanted to.” Harry shrugs his shoulders and picks up a bag from the floor. He takes out a box from it. “I remembered you told me you wanted me to bake you some cookies or cupcakes so…I hope you like them.” he grins.

When he opens up the box, Louis can see lots of cookies, vanilla and chocolate flavored, some with chocolate chips, others with M&Ms. There are cupcakes too, glazed in different colours and covered with sprinkles. His eyes go wide, his mouth practically watering as he looks at the container in his lap.

“You did all these for me?”

“Mhmm. Baked them this morning, so they’re still fresh.”

Louis grabs one of the chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips and takes a bite. As soon as it touches his tongue, he lets out a moan. “Oh my God, Harold, this is probably the most delicious cookie I’ve ever had. And I’ve eaten way too many cookies in my life,” he speaks with his mouth full.

“You’re exaggerating, Lou ...”

“M not! This is incredible, Haz, you’re a fantastic baker! I’m going to end up with a sugar tooth!”

Harry giggles and covers his mouth, trying not to laugh louder. He always does that, like if he was embarrassed of his own laugh, but Louis loves it. “Well, I’m glad you like them,” he smiles. “There’s also one more thing?” he says as he takes something blue from the bag.

Louis raises his eyebrows and looks at him “Harry, what is that?!”

A smile spreads over Harry’s face as he hands him a Barcelona jersey.

“That, Lewis, would be a Barcelona jersey,” he smirks.

“Yeah, I can tell that! But how-”

“I know you’re a big fan of the team so…yeah.”

“Harold, what the fuck?”

“Open it up” he says, eagerly. Louis hesitates for a moment, but obeys none the less, and when he does, his mouth falls open.

“Is this…? Is this Messi’s fucking autograph?!” he inquires, practically shouting in disbelief. Harry nods, grinning. “How the fuck did you get this?” he stares at Harry, eyes as wide as they would go.

“Not a big deal, really. My step dad had a meeting with Barcelona because they signed a deal or something like that with his enterprise, and they were all given a free jersey, all of them signed by Messi. And no one in my house is into football at all, so I just told him you were a big fan of it, and that you loved Barca and Messi, and asked him if I could gave it to you as a birthday present,” he shrugs his shoulders. “He told me sure, so, here it is.”

“You could have sold it and earned some money, why the hell would you give this to me?”

“Nah … I wanted to see the look on your face.”

Louis just leans forward to hug Harry really tight “You’re the best fucking friend in the entire fucking world!”

“I knew you only liked me because of my presents,” Harry teases.

“Don’t be silly, Harold. I like you because of your curls. If you got rid of them, I wouldn’t be your friend anymore,” he shoots back, and Harry fake gasps, putting his hand over his chest. Louis can’t help but laughing.

“So, wanna watch ‘Love Actually?”

“We’ve seen that movie, like, three times in the past term, Harold.” he smirks.

“I know, but Christmas was like two weeks ago and I didn’t watch it and I feel like seeing it again,” he pouts. Louis rolls his eyes, shaking his head, but ends up agreeing, of course.

He can’t really pay attention to the movie, though. Not when Harry is hugging him and repeating all the dialogs out loud. No when Harry giggles, his head resting on Louis’ shoulder making his whole body vibrate with the sound. Not when he has to order himself to stare at the screen and not at Harry, who is watching the movie with bright eyes, smiling.

Fuck, how did he even get in that situation?

* * *

That night, after Liam and Zayn arrive, they have dinner together, just the four of them, in the catered hall of the university. They catch up about their holidays and they talk about Louis' future siblings and Jay getting married. His friends congratulate him again, but don’t say anything when they realize that Harry found out before they did. Zayn just smirks and keeps on with the conversation. They talk about their coming exams, because they are days away from them and they have to start studying. They also speak about all the football matches Liam and him are about to have that semester.

Liam nods when Sophia waves at him from the other corner and waves back at her, smirk playing on his face. Louis notices the way Zayn swallows, annoyed, nostrils flaring, but doesn’t say a word about it, just keeping quiet. He knows Zayn never really liked Sophia, but now that she is flirting with Liam, he knows he will like her even less. Sophia shared a class a year ago with Zayn, and she wasn’t exactly all that nice to him. Zayn never said anything to Liam because he was aware that they knew each other from childhood, so he just kept his mouth shut. Louis meets Zayn’s eyes, throwing at him a curious look, but his friend stares down at the table, avoiding his gaze.

After that, they all play a FIFA match because they know they won’t have time to do so the following days. They just spend all night playing, Louis and Zayn versus Harry and Liam, because Harry and Zayn got tired of losing.

* * *

During the three following weeks, all Louis does is study and go to football practices. He barely has time to see Harry, Liam, or Zayn because he spends most of his time in the library, reading books and studying or meeting up with Perrie to practice for their non-theoretical exams, or at the football pitch training up for their next match, which will take place the first week of the second semester.

He stays late up almost all night, eating all the cookies and cupcakes Harry baked for him, going through his text and literature books over and over again. He wakes up early to keep on studying, so he barely sleeps. He is not afraid of practical exams because he loves performing and he always was good at it, but the other stuff…That makes him nervous.

His friends are stressed too, and he has never seen them like that, especially not Harry, who is always calmed down and in a zen mode.

During their weeks of study time, he doesn’t give Xander any support classes because he needs to spend all of his time focusing on his own exams, and Louis is really glad about it. But he also knows that as soon as finals are over, Harry will have to go back to them, and he hates it. Even if it’s stupid, he hates it.

The only day during the exams period he can relax a little is one afternoon in which Harry joins him while studying. Harry notices how stressed he is, so he just massages his back, telling him to breathe and rest for a moment, otherwise he will go crazy. Louis closes his eyes and lets Harry work on his neck and shoulders, and fuck, Harry’s fingers are magical. They rub all over Louis’ nape and shoulder blades and little by little, Louis can feel the tension going away. Harry places a kiss on Louis’ cheek when he is finished, and Louis can’t help the color that rises quickly to his cheeks.

The Friday that they finally finish all the exams, they go out to a bar near campus to celebrate. Louis is happy that all the stress is finally over, and he’s also really pleased with himself because he feels he did good in all of his exams.

Once they are at the bar, they order some pints and start drinking like no tomorrow. Louis is used to drinking beer like that, but Harry, who’s not, ends up pretty much wasted, laughing at everything they say and being much more touchy than he generally is. It’s funny watching him like that, speaking faster than usual, words slipping out of his mouth and slurring together. What’s not so funny is the way Harry is touching him. Not that Louis wants to complain, but having Harry curling himself into him and telling him how much he love him and how lucky he is to know him is making Louis weak in the knees. Harry is always a warm person, but he is not having sense of personal space right now, and Louis thinks he might die. He is a little bit drunk too, but he has to do his best not to lose his composure, not to do anything stupid. Because he also knows it’s not Harry talking, but the alcohol speaking for him. Yes, drunk people always tell the truth, or that’s how the saying goes, but it also makes you exaggerate stuff and say things you wouldn’t say while sober. So yes, he is controlling himself pretty well, although it is fucking hard when Harry is centimeters away from his face, giggling like a little kid.

Zayn is pretty pissed too, and Louis can tell because of the way he teases Liam and smirks at him. He touches the stuble on his face while making funny voices, and hugs him or kisses his cheek, and even though Louis knows Zayn is an affectionate person, he has never seen him like this in public before. He holds Liam’s thigh and rests his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes and giggling. Zayn is more of a shy guy, but right now, he is being outspoken and kind of bold, if you can call it that. Thing is, he does all that, but Liam doesn’t even seem to notice. Sometimes he wonders if his friend realizes how oblivious he is. He also wonders if Zayn is doing all that so Liam can notice something now that he started talking to Sophia.

When the night is over, he manages to take Harry, who can barely walk, back to his room. Shawn, who didn’t go out because he felt sick, starts laughing when he sees Harry practically hanging off of Louis.

“Oh, man, he is so drunk!” Shawn says with a laugh, and Louis laughs in agreement.

“Yeah, he drank, like, five pints of beer?” Louis replies.

“I had seven!” Harry corrects him with a smile, holding up seven fingers in the air. Louis shakes his head and huffs.

“Seven? Wow, no wonder he’s this messed up!”

“Yes, he’s a menace…” Louis agrees “Listen, man, mind if I make him take a shower?” he asks Shawn. “Otherwise he will stink like alcohol tomorrow, and I doubt you want your room to smell like that.”

“Nope, go ahead. Just don’t leave everything a mess, please. Not that I care, but Harry is kinda obsessed with keeping things tidy.”

“Yeah, don’t worry!”

Louis would take Harry to his room and make him sleep in the other bed, but his new roommate is arriving the following day, and he has to keep things tidy, not scare him off the first day or give him reasons to hate him already.

He helps Harry getting rid off his clothes until he is only in his boxers, and then, once he had turned the tap of the shower on and the water is already hot, he helps Harry step over the edge so he doesn’t trip. Harry closes his eyes, humming a song Louis doesn’t know, and Louis has to help him stand steady so he doesn’t fall.

“‘M tired,” Harry mumbles, rubbing at his eyes.

“I know, you’re going to sleep in a few minutes, Hazza.”

A few minutes later, he turns the water off and tells Harry to dress himself. He turns his head away, trying not to look at him or invade his privacy - as if he wasn’t used to seing dicks and naked asses in the dressing room of the football pitch, but this was Harry - and then he makes him drink some water and take a few Advil.

When he finally gets Harry into bed, Harry turns and smiles at him happily.

“I’m so, so, so lucky to have you, Boo Bear!”

“I’m lucky too!” he grins back, stomach doing a black flip, even if it doesn't mean anything … because Harry had already told him before that.

“Really, really lucky” he mumbles, closing his eyes and yawning before falling asleep almost immediately. Louis considers kissing his forehead, but decides against it, and starts to head for the door.

“Thanks for bringing him back safe, mate,” Shawn tells him on his way out, and Louis nods.

“My pleasure,” Louis answers, carefully closing the door behind him.

Back in his room, he realizes he feels tight and uncomfortable in his jeans. Fucking great. Not that he never thought about it before, but this is the first time his whole body and his crotch feel on fire.  What did he do to deserve this? He sighs. He knows he has no choice but to get rid of it, and he thanks God that his roommate isn’t moving in until tomorrow.

* * *

 ****The following day, when he sees Harry at breakfast, he doesn’t stop teasing him over his hangover. Harry throws a murderous look at him and takes the spoon full of cereal and milk to his mouth, chewing slowly, as if every bite hurt.

“I feel like ten elephants decided to dance on my head,” he groans.

“That, young Harold, is what a hangover feels like. Welcome to my world.” Louis grins.

Of course he doesn’t mention he saw him almost naked. Not that it’s important, anyways, but what he wants to forget is about how hard he got just from seeing him like that, almost naked. Can you blame him? Harry is gorgeous, perfectly fit, and he is gone for him. And he has needs, he hasn’t been with anybody, not even a casual hook up ever since…Well, ever since he met Harry, actually.

After lunch, the new students start to arrive, students that are joining the university in the second term. They are not as many as the ones who join during the first one, but they’re still quite a few, and Louis starts seeing new faces on the grounds as he, Harry, Zayn, and Liam start walking back from lunch.

Suddenly, someone blond is screaming and jumping into Harry’s arms, causing Louis to jump in surprise.

“Harry!” he yells, his thick Irish accent making his voice even louder to Louis.

“Niall?” Harry asks, amused as he stumbles backwards, trying to hold the blond guy in his arms. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?!”

Harry is grinning like crazy, holding the guy - Niall’s - shoulders. What the fuck, who is that dude? How do they know each other? A million questions race through Louis’ head, but of course, he doesn’t want to interrupt what seems to be some sort of reunion.

“Surprise, mate!” Niall laughs, clapping Harry on the back.

“I thought you were in Argentina!”

“Oh, I was, came back a few days ago, and I’m going to continue studying here!” he grins, and Harry grins back. Louis feels a bit left out, and there’s a feeling stirring in his chest.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?!”

“Well, I wanted to give you a surprise,” Niall replies, pinching Harry’s cheek, and Harry giggles.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Harry grins widely.

To Louis, it seems like they are really close…and it’s rubbing him the wrong way. The jealousy grows in his chest, but he shoves it away. Zayn and Liam are regarding Niall and Harry with interest, but Louis sees Liam turn to wave to Sophia and a friend, who are walking by. He doesn’t miss Zayn turning away from Liam, but he doesn’t have time to console his friend, even with just a look, because Harry is turning to them, pulling Niall along with him.

“Guys,” Harry says to him, Liam and Zayn. “This is Niall Horan, my best friend from home! And Niall, this is Louis, Zayn and Liam!”

“Hi, mates. Nice to meet ya. Harry told me so much about ya.” Niall smiles widely. And then Louis remembers: Harry told him about Niall before. He told them about a best friend back in his hometown he speaks often with, but he didn’t remember that his name was Niall.

“So, how has Argentina been?” Harry wants to know, turning once again to Niall with an excited look on his face.

“Oh, it was sick. The university was hella hard, though. The ITBA is one of the best engineering universities ever, but they killed me with exams and I had to study for hours and hours. People are cool, they party a lot. And the meat is the best meat you will ever try, oh my God! I wanted to have babies with the barbecue I ate!”

“You’re crazy!” Harry snorts.

“Wait, so you are studying engineering?” Liam asks, interested. “I’m in engineering too! Mechanical, what about you?”

“Industrial!”

“Cool!” Liam grins.

“Hey, I need to get to my room, and I have no idea how to get. Can you guys help me?”

“Sure” Zayn grins “Which dorm are you in?”

Niall takes a piece of paper out of the pocket of his jeans and points out the room he is staying at. Fucking hell.

“That’s Lou’s room!” Harry exclaims.

“Oh, so am i going to be your roommate?” Niall smiles at him.

“Seems like you are, yeah!” Louis smiles, even though he feels kinda uncomfortable, but he knows it’s not Niall’s fault that he’s jealous. It’s his own problem.

“You will love him, Lou is great!” Harry grins and Louis feels his heart melting because of Harry’s compliment.

“Sick! We’re gonna have proper fun, aren’t we? I’m not crazy, I promise.” Louis laughs, this time genuinely.

 

Niall’s still hungry, so they head back to the dining hall to get a second lunch. Niall tells them how he’d been studying for two years in Argentina, and now, he had come back to UK to finish his studies. Niall was born in Ireland, but moved to Chesire when he was four years old because his dad found a job there, so he grew up with Harry. He speaks about what did they did when they were kids, all the trouble they got in, and he even tells some embarrassing stories about Harry that make Harry blush furiously, something that Louis thinks looks good on Harry, if he’s being honest. It seems like Niall is a very important person in Harry’s life, and Louis can tell how happy, and still amused Harry is at having him there.

Louis doesn’t notice that Xander has approached their table until he is there, speaking to Harry.

“So are we gonna have a class today?” he asks Harry, and Louis prevents himself from rolling his eyes with immense difficulty. Can’t he just fuck off? Niall looks from Harry to Xander, and then to Louis, before turning his bewildered stare back to Harry.

“Oh, yeah, of course. Meet you in the library after class?” Harry answers, politely. He is always so polite, even to a dick like Xander who most definitely doesn’t deserve it.

“Nah, can’t, I have a watch to show at that time. Can it be later, like, before supper?”

What the fuck? He is changing Harry’s hours because of a fucking TV show? Seriously?

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Harry says with a smile, seemingly unbothered.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Niall speaks, clearing his throat and looking right at Xander, “But I think that if Harry is giving you support classes, you should adjust to his schedule, and not the other way round?” Niall’s lips turn up in a satisfied smirk as Xander looks at him in astonishment.

Louis chokes on his food, and Liam raises his eyebrows, surprised. Zayn just stops eating, the fork halfway to his mouth, looking at Liam in confusion. They were clearly not expecting that. Obviously, Niall didn’t have a problem being blunt.

“And you are, blondie?” Xander asks, rather rudely and still a bit flustered. He apparently wasn’t used to being told off like that.

“Niall, his best friend.” Niall’s smirk grows wider, but Xander doesn’t look very pleased.

“Never heard of you before,” Xander grumbles, and Niall just shrugs.

“Funny, never heard of you either, mate,” Niall shoots back, and wow. The tension is so thick that Louis could cut it with a knife. He hates Xander, but he would have never expected Niall to hate him too … not when he just met him.

Harry blinks, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and Louis feels kinda sorry for him.

“So, see you at noon, then?” Harry says into the silence, and all of them, even Louis, look at Xander now.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t forget your book!”

“I won’t!” Xander says before leaving without even saying goodbye.

“Who the fuck is this asshole, Harry?” Niall asks, turning to his best friend, and Louis takes a huge gulp of water to avoid laughing. He might just get along fantastically with this guy.

“Xander. And he is not an asshole.”

 _Why_ , Louis thinks. Why is Harry even bothering to defend Xander? Niall is right, he’s a complete asshole, and Louis can’t even begin to understand what would make Harry stand up for him.

“He’s a douche” Niall states. Liam, Zayn and Louis just stay silent, listening to Harry and Niall’s conversation. They haven’t got anything to add really. Well, he kinda does…but he stays quiet anyway. “I have an excellent douchedar, remember?”

“That’s not even a thing!” Harry says, but he’s laughing now.

“Pfft, it is. And it has never failed me before!” he sticks the fork into his mouth and chews. “God, as much as I love Argentinean food, I missed fried fish so much.”

* * *

It’s been almost week since Niall arrived and became his roommate, and Louis likes the dude, he really does. He’s funny, he’s loud, he seems like a great person, he’s a great football player and he is fucking crazy, in the good sense of the word. He has started hanging a lot with them and is always making them laugh and doing stupid things.He has the most contagious laugh ever, and he is laughing all the fucking time. There is really not a single  aspect of him that Louis can complain about, because he doesn’t even get moody when Louis leaves a mess in the room. And maybe that’s is why he feels guilty for feeling jealous. Because Niall is not like Xander. He is not a jerk like that douchebag he despises so much, and if Harry likes him, he should be happy that Harry would at least be with a decent man. Right?

Well, the fuck, when was jealousy a rational thing? He can’t help it. He is trying but he can’t help it. Even if Niall would be a great match for Harry, he can’t help feeling jealous and annoyed at the idea of the two of them together. And it’s pretty obvious Niall likes him because he hugs him a lot, and he also hates Xander. Well, almost everyone hates Xander, but Niall actually told to Harry he thought the dude was an asshole. Niall actually told him he didn’t like him at all, which the rest of them hadn’t even tried to do.

Does Harry feel the same way about Niall, too? Is he in love with him as well? Louis needs to know, urgently. Even when he feels he won’t like the answer, even when he feels he will want to smash his head against the wall after hearing it, he needs to know it. Right now.

“Hey, Niall…” he says.

Niall, who is reading “The Call of the Cthulhu”, puts down his book and looks at him through the glasses perched on his nose.

“Yeah, Tommo?”

“Uhm, I wanted to ask you something?” Louis lets out, nervously.

“Go ahead, shoot.”

How should he ask? He doesn’t want Niall to think he is intruding where he shouldn’t. He also doesn’t want Niall to think he is a jealous fuck either. So how can he do this properly?

“Well, I have noticed that you and Hazza are…uhm, really close? And well, you also called Xander a douche and … I don’t know what I’m even trying to say.” Well, congratulations, Louis, that came out really well. Kudos to you.

“Well, yeah, we’re really close. I love Harry!” he smiles in the most natural way, and wow, he didn’t think he would admit it so easily. Fuck, he wants to hide under his bed and never come out. “I mean, we have been friends since like forever, we grew up together and-” he stops, raising his eyebrows and leans up to sit over the bed, throwing his legs off it to rest them on the floor and face him. “Ohh,” he laughs. “Oh my God, you think I’m in love with him, don’t you?. You think I’m in love with Harry.” Niall snorts out loud like he always does, cheeks turning red. He doesn’t get it, what’s so funny? He doesn’t understand why is Niall laughing that way. “Nah, mate…I’m very much straight.” he says once he managed to recover from the laughing fit he gave himself. “Have a long-term girlfriend and all. Like I said, Harry has been my mate since forever so yes, of course I adore him, but I’m most definitely not in love with him,” he giggles.

“What’s so funny?” Louis asks, annoyed. He doesn’t like to feel like he is being laughed at.

“Mate, you thought I fancied Harry. Of course it’s funny. It’s fucking hilarious. Thanks for the good laugh!” Niall slaps his leg and wipes tears from his eyes. “Jesus, I had forgotten that love makes you blind as a bat. And yes, I called Xander a fucking asshole, because that’s what he is. That and because I can’t fucking stand the way he flirts with Harry, and the way Harry doesn’t even seem to notice. I don’t think it will ever happen, but I’d absolutely hate if there was something going on between the two of them. Harry deserves so much better.” he pauses and smirks. “You, however…I do like you fancying Harry.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jesus Fucking Christ. Why does everybody know? He can’t be that obvious. There is no way on Earth that he is that transparent.

“Dude, you may be blind, but I’m not. And I can tell from miles away that you like him. Completely smitten with him, if I’m not mistaken. It’s okay, nothing to be ashamed of, happens to all of us. Harry’s a real charmer, without even trying.”

“Am I really that obvious?” Louis says with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“To be honest? Yes, you are. But I don’t think he knows. He is way too innocent to notice, and he probably thinks you’re like that with everyone. If I were you, I’d tell him how you feel.”

Uhm, yeah … no.

“You’re fucking crazy. There is no way in hell I’m gonna tell him.Things are good as they are. I don’t want to fuck up our friendship.”

“Okay…I was just giving you my opinion,” Niall replies, shrugging his shoulders. When Louis doesn’t reply, he lies on his bed again and continues with his book.

“So…you have a girlfriend?”

“I do, yeah.”

“What’s her name?” Louis asks, figuring he might as well learn some stuff about his roommate, now that the knot of jealousy was gone from his chest.

“Barbara.”

“Can you show me a picture?”

Niall huffs but smiles before picking up his phone from the table between the beds and unlocking the screen. “Here” he says, giving his mobile to Louis.

Louis stares at the screen and sees a selfie of the two of them sticking out their tongues.

“Wow, she’s gorgeous!”

“She is, isn’t she? Most beautiful girl ever.” he smiles widely with pride. “And most amazing girl too. She is everything.”

Wow, Niall is really gone for her, and he seems really happy. He wonders if he will have that one day. The thing is … he doesn’t want to have that with just anyone, he wants to have that with Harry, and he doesn’t know if that’s possible.

* * *

After finishing classes, Louis heads back to his room. It’s finally Friday, but it’s also the last day of January, meaning Harry’s birthday it’s the following day. Louis is nervous. He bought him a present, and he is afraid of Harry not liking it or thinking it’s stupid, especially after what Harry gave to him for his birthday.

They are celebrating out that night. They are all going to a bar to celebrate Harry turning 20, so he has to prepare himself and shit. Niall is ready and Skyping with his mum, so Louis hurries to get a shower and dress into black jeans, a white t-shirt, and a denim jacket.

He and Niall meet up with Liam and Zayn AT the door and wait for the girls to arrive, who are also going to go.

They arrive quickly to the bar. Harry is already there, talking to a friend of his from his law class. Louis smiles at him when he sees him. He is wearing black pants, a black head scarf and a blue and black flannel and he honestly looks gorgeous. He always does. Harry approaches him and hugs him tight.

“You came!”

“Of course I came, Harold. Wouldn’t miss your birthday, would I?” he smirks “So, twenty years. We’re finally going to have two years of difference again,” he rAises his eyebrows, mocking what Harry told him when he turned twenty two. Harry giggles and Louis can’t help smiling.

“I’m getting old.”

“Ohh, fuck you,” he laughs.

They sit around the booth where they sat the last time they were there and order some pints. War flashbacks invade Louis’ mind, from that night when he had to take care of Harry. He hopes Harry takes his time with the drinks this time, not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time he had to help Harry home drunk.

Luckily, it’s a chill celebration. They don’t drink much, they play fun games, and when it turns midnight, Louis is the first one to hug Harry and wish him a happy birthday.

Louis pulls him tight into his arms and smiles. “Happy birthday, Haz. I’m the luckiest to have you,” he says. Okay, maybe he is a little bit tipsy, but Harry doesn’t seem to notice because he hugs him, too, caressing his back. Louis shivers, but Harry doesn’t notice that either.

“No, I’m the lucky one. Thanks so much, Lou!”

Louis wants to scream. Every time Harry says something to him like that, he just feels his heart pounding ridiculously hard inside his ribcage, and he thinks he could faint. He swallows and nods, smiling at him before patting his shoulder.

A few minutes later, Xander arrives with a friend to say hi to Harry too, and he wishes he could tell him to fuck off. But he can’t, because Harry has the right to be friends with whoever he likes. That doesn’t mean he likes it, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think Xander is an utter idiot who doesn’t deserve Harry as a friend.

Louis notices how unfriendly Niall is towards Xander, which is weird coming from him, because he is usually smiling at everybody and laughing and joking around. But when Xander greeted him, Niall replied curtly, his face impassive.

He manages, though, not to lose his shit. Louis distracts himself by talking to Liam, Niall, and Zayn and playing more dumb games. Games that won’t get him drunk because he is not in the mood of ending up wasted and ruining the night when he has to be half sober to give Harry his present.

 

A few hours later, they are all returning to the University. He goes back to his room and looks under his bed for the bag he has with Harry’s gifts. Once he has them in hand, he goes to Harry and Shawn’s room and knocks on the door.

Harry opens it; he is alone and it looks like he is preparing himself to go to bed because he is dressed in his pajama pants only. Louis stares at him and blinks, trying to remember how to talk.

“Harold…” he finally says. “I know it’s late, but I have something for you?”

“Yeah?”

“Uhm, yeah...your birthday present.”

Harry laughs softly “You didn’t have to get me anything just because I gave you something, you know that, right?”

“No, I know. But when I was in Doncaster, I saw this stuff and I thought you’d like it so…” He clears his throat, raising up his hand so Harry can look at the green gift bag. “This is for you.”

A crooked smile appears on Harry’s face as he takes the bag. He takes out a package and looks at Louis.

“You’re supposed to open it, you know,” Louis teases.

So Harry unwraps it and his eyes go wide.

“ _Astrology for the Soul_ by Jen Miller. Wow, you bought this for me?!” he stares at him.

“Well, I remembered our talk and saw the book and thought you’d like it,” Louis shrugs his shoulders, trying to cover up his relief at Harry’s happy reaction.

“This is incredible, Lou, I love it!”

Louis grins and wets his lips almost without noticing. “There’s also something else in the bag.”

Harry cocks his head but smiles and grabs the bag again. He looks inside and takes out a beige and green headscarf with little skulls on it and a small pendant with the Aquarius sign.

“I know how much do you love headscarves so I thought why not add another one to your collection?”

Harry smiles at him before hugging him tight, and Louis can feel the heat of Harry’s skin through his own thin t-shirt. “You’re the best.” He mumbles in his ear, and damn it, he is a grown man, for fuck’s sake, he shouldn’t be feeling butterflies in his stomach.

“So, do you like the gifts?” he asks, nervously.

“I love them, Lou. They are perfect,” he smiles, putting the Aquarius pendant around his neck.

“Well, I’m glad you do,” he nods, lingering in the doorway. He really didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to, before he did something stupid in his still slightly tipsy state. “I have to go back to my room now, Haz.”

“Okay, go have some rest yeah?”

“Yeah…and oh, Hazza?” he says when Harry is about to close the door. “Happy birthday again.”

“Thanks, Lou” he smiles, dimples popping out, and Louis merely nods, waiting until Harry closes the door before letting his smile take over his face.

Fuck. He is so weak for that smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Hope you liked it. If you did, please leave kudos and comments. See ya' in next chapter!


	4. A Brilliant Idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is, chapter four! We're in the middle of the fic! (Only three chapters left) First of all, I suck with name titles and I don't know why I'm starting every chapter's name with "A...(something)" but I guess I'm gonna maintain that through all the fic. Secondly, this chapter has multiple POV's so bare with me. Thirdly, this chapter revolves a lot around Ziam so I hope you enjoy this because I'm not so used to write about them.  
> Once again [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is the photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University, because yes, maybe you want to know why or how did choose the dates that I chose.  
> Last but not least, thanks to the amazing Liz aka @Dont_Stop_Larry who is beating my fic, chapter chapter, every week.

**Louis' POV**

Harry, Zayn, and Louis are spending their time in the cafeteria after classes. They’re not doing much, they are just kinda there. Harry is wearing a lilac sweater that looks really cozy and adorable on him, and the headscarf Louis gave him is tucked safely in his curls. He’s also silent, reading the Astrology book Louis gave him the day before. Louis is happy because it looks like Harry likes his presents. Louis is also quiet, watching the new show he started on Netflix, _Orange Is The New Black_ , with his headphones on. Zayn should be studying, but Louis can tell that he’s procrastinating by the way his eyes flicker every now and then to Louis’ screen to see what’s going on. Louis doesn’t blame him, it’s a really good show.

“I like that one!” Zayn says suddenly.

Louis pauses it and turns to look at him.

“Which one?”

“That one” he points with his finger “The black girl that is all little and has really short hair.”

“Oh! You mean Poussey! She is one of my favorites!” Louis smiles and he sees Harry grinning because he knows that she’s one of his favorites too.

Zayn takes out his headphones from his backpack and plugs them in the extra orifice Louis has.

“I’m gonna watch this chapter with you!”

“But this is like…episode four, Zee,” he laughs but Zayn just shrugs his shoulders.

He continues watching the show, his eyes flickering every now and then to Harry who seems completely absorbed in his book, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth. Louis is pretty sure that if he stares at Harry any harder, he’d burn a hole in him, but Harry is too taken in by his book to notice.

About a half hour later, when the episode is about to end, fucking Xander approaches the table, looking at Harry expectantly. Right, it’s Monday…which means it’s time for support classes with Harry. Fucking great.

“Hi, Harry” Xander smirks. Why does he always smirk? Can he get a grip?

“Oh, hi, Xander!” he closes his book, looking up.

“What are you reading?” Xander takes the book out of Harry’s hands without permission and stares at the cover, raising an eyebrow. Who the hell does he think he is to take things away from people like that? Louis wants to scream at him.

“Oh, just an Astrology book Lou gave to me for my birthday. It’s really sick!” he smiles, with bright eyes. Louis smiles slightly; he loves how Harry’s expression changes when he likes what he is talking about.

“Astrology?” he chuckles and gives Harry the book back. “You believe in these things?”

“Yup”

Xander raises his eyebrows and looks at Louis. “So you gave this to him?”

“I did, yes,” Louis answers, dead serious, not batting an eyelash.

“Do you give presents like this to all your friends, Tomlinson?”

Louis clenches his jaw and opens his mouth to speak, but Zayn ends up replying first.

“He does. He always give us presents for our birthdays.” A sarcastic grin spreads over Zayn’s face and Louis glances at him before focusing on Xander again.

“Okay, then. Let’s go, Harry?”

“Yeah!” Harry stands up and puts his book in his backpack. “See you later, guys!” he smiles. “Tonight we’re going to watch a movie, right?”

“Yeah” Louis nods, managing a smile in Harry’s direction.

“Okay then, see you at dinner!”

Louis watches them leave and the smile disappears from his face at once.

“You owe me” Zayn says to him.

“What? Why?” Louis asks him.

“Because you didn’t get me anything for my birthday,” Zayn complains, but he’s smiling.

“I’m so sorry, Zee! I suck, I’m the worst friend ever!” Louis buries his face in his hands and groans.

Zayn starts laughing. “Nah, mate, that’s not it. Your friendship is gift enough. I meant because I lied to Xander,” he grins.

“Oh yeah, that … thanks so much, Zayn, really,” he sighs. “Ugh, I hate that dickhead.”

“Yeah, everyone does.”

* * *

On February 10th, Louis has to leave urgently for Doncaster because Dan calls him, telling him his mum went into premature labor, so his twin siblings are about to be born. He speaks with the head of his department, who understands the situation and lets him go, giving him three days to go and visit his family without reprimand.

He explains quickly to the guys the situation before leaving, and in less than three hours later, he is at the hospital where Jay is.

Jay got through labor just fine, and Ernie and Doris, his little brother and sister, are healthy even if they were born before term. His mum looks so beautiful, radiant, really.

The nurse leads Louis where the room were Ernie and Doris are staying, and when he sees them, he feels he could just melt of tenderness. They are tiny and delicate and Louis wishes he could just pick them up, but he knows he can’t yet because they’re sleeping and they need to rest.

Louis sleeps at the hospital that night, telling Dan to get some rest, considering he had been awake the entire night before. He stays there, talking to his mum, wishing he could tell her how in love with Harry he is. He knows that she knows it, but somehow, some way, he’s not able to tell her so.

The next day, in the morning, he is at last able to hold his siblings in his arms. They are so little that he can hold both of them at once, and Louis is smiling so hard, he has crinkles by his eyes and his cheeks hurt.

“Hey there, Ernie. Hi, Doris,” he whispers. “I’m Louis, your older brother. I promise that I will always take care of you. I can’t believe I have a little brother!” he smiles at Ernie, who looks at him with squinty eyes. “And Doris, you are so beautiful!” Jay watches him smiling, a tear on his cheek, and before he realizes, she is taking a picture of three of them with Louis’ phone.

By midday, Louis sends Harry the photo on Whatsapp. It’s not long before Harry replies.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _they are beautiful, Lou. I’m so happy for you! Tell Jay congratulations from my part._

 **_Louis:_ ** _will do! :)_

 

During the two following days, Louis stays there as much as possible, looking at Ernie and Doris everytime he can. He felt in love with his two little siblings, and the idea of not being able to see them for months makes him sad, so he is trying to enjoy his time with day with them all that he can.

The Wednesday before going back to Manchester, they all eat together at the bar of the hospital because Jay can’t leave just yet.  Not only because she has to rest, but because she doesn’t want to leave her babies for long.

He arrives late at night, kinda in a bad mood because he didn’t want to leave, and finds Harry in his room, talking to Niall. Harry notices that he is not as cheerful as always, so he stays there talking with them both and watching a movie with both him and Niall until Louis falls asleep.

* * *

The following day, Louis is in a terrible mood. He is happy because he met his little brother and sister, of course, and normally he would be happy being in Manchester, but he’s just in a bad mood. He barely pays attention in class and everything his classmates say or ask annoys him and makes him clench his teeth.

Football practice doesn’t go as he wants either. He can barely concentrate and he can’t do a fucking thing right, and he knows the coach notices this, even if he doesn’t say anything. Truth is that Louis always does a great job, but right now he is just having a bad time. He hates when that happens. He hates when he’s so annoyed he can barely think or function properly. It doesn’t happen often to him, but it does every now and then.  

After dinner, at which he stays quiet and doesn’t laugh as he always does at Niall’s jokes, Zayn stops him to talk.

“Mate, what's happening?” he asks.

“Nothing.” Louis replies, coldly. He can be a little bit too rude when he is annoyed.

“You sure, mate? You looked so stressed all day!” he asks again, worried.

“I’m fine, Zayn.”

“Is this about Harry?”

“Not everything is about Harry, Zayn!” he explodes.

“Jesus, calm down, okay?” he stares at him “Have you talked with him? I think you should!”

Louis raises his eyebrows, baffled.

“Lemme get this straight. You want me to talk to Harry? Confess my love for him?” he lets out, amused.

“I think that’s what you should do, yes.”

“Well, I’m not gonna do it.”

“You’re going to regret if if you don’t ... C’mon, Lou, I know it’s difficult, but you can do it.”

Louis lets out a sarcastic laugh. “I can’t fucking believe this. That’s very rich coming from you, Zayn,” he sighs.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zayn asks, looking like he had just been slapped in the face.

“Oh, c’mon! You can’t be possibly coming at me for not wanting to declare my love to Harry when you have been in love with your best friend for three fucking years!”

Okay, he might had been a little bit ruder than necessary, but he was so tired of Zayn beating around the bush with Liam.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies seriously.

“Oh, don’t I? Because I can see the way you’re pining over him, mate. And I can see the way you hate when he spends time with Sophia. I’m not stupid, man. So don’t come at me and try to call me a coward for not confessing my love for Harry, when you’re a coward too.” he spits.

“I never called you a coward, Tommo,” Zayn replies. He is not angry, he just seems hurt.

“Well, you implied it,” he huffs.

“I didn’t, I swear.”

“Whatever, Z.” Louis turns his head away.

Zayn bites his lower lip and nods, sighing.

“Okay, then. See you tomorrow, Tommo,” he lets out before walking away.

Louis hides his face in his hands and groans.

When he arrives to his room, Niall is already sleeping. He changes quickly and slides into his bed. He is about to fall asleep when his phone buzzes.

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _Are you okay, Lou? Noticed you were really quiet and turned off during the dinner._

 

He smiles a little bit, because he can’t resist when Harry shows him he cares about him.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _Yeah, just had a shitty day, that’s all._

 **_Harry:_ ** _Oh, wanna me to go there and give you some cuddles?_

 

He smiles even wider.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _Nah, it’s fine, I’m going to see if I can get some sleep now, but I’ll hug you tomorrow, yeah? Thanks tho._

 

 **_Harry:_ ** _Of course, Lou. Sleep tight, love you._

 **_Louis:_ ** _love you too._

 

He falls asleep feeling much better than he did all day.

 

* * *

“So…” Mr. Grimshaw explains, “Second Friday of the semester and now I’m gonna set you in pairs and you will reply to these questions I’m going to give to you. You will use the two hours you have and hand the work in at the end of the class. No extra talking, or I’ll give you extra work for the next week.” he grins with sarcasm and the whole class nods.

Typical of him. Nick is bitter all the time, and it is no secret that he and Louis don’t have the best professor-student relationship with him. Yeah, okay…he might be a little way too mischievous and he might talk too much in class, but still. At least he did well with him the last semester and he plans to keep on doing good work this semester as well.

Louis is set up with Hannah Walker, a blonde girl that smiles all the time and he has seen around, but has never shared a class with until this year.

Hannah grins at him so Louis grins back before sitting next to her and taking the stack of papers out off his backpack.

They finish up the assignment pretty quickly. Seems like Hannah is a big Shakespeare fan, so she is thrilled to answer all the questions. And even if Louis doesn’t love all his works, he really enjoys others. Right now they are working with both “The Merchant of the Venice” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, and he happens to like those ones very much.

After the class is over, they leave together. Hannah asks Louis to join her for a coffee, and Louis accepts because, why not? She seems like a nice girl, after all.

They go the closest coffee shop on campus and order some cappuccinos and croissants, and then sit at the table next to the window.

They start talking about school, about how much they love drama and about what they want to do when they finish school.

“So…” Hannah says after a while, twirling her straw in her almost empty drink. “I was wondering if maybe … if maybe we could go out some…day?” she asks, blushing.

Fuck, he wasn’t expecting that. He breathes in a deep breath and smiles kindly, trying to make what he has to say sound less harsh than it is.

“Listen, Hannah…you’re a great girl. You’re beautiful and funny, but-”

“But you don’t like me…” she smiles sadly.

“But there’s someone else,” Louis corrects her, trying to make her realize that she’s not the problem. Or well, maybe she is, but because he’s not into women, but she doesn’t know that.

“Oh” she gasps, “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Well…” Louis chuckles, “It’s not a girl.”

Hannah’s jaw drops as her eyes widen, staring at him, stunned. “What…you’re-?”

“I’m gay, yes.” he nods his head.

“So, who is he?” she asks, leaning forward.

“I’d rather not say…” Louis says, because honestly, is not that he doesn’t trust Hannah, but that he doesn’t want more people finding out.

“Well, you always hang out with Zayn and Liam…but I don’t think it’s either of them, you have been friends for a while.” Okay. So Hannah knows who he hangs out with. Good to know. Louis guesses she must have liked him for a while if she knows that. “Oh my god, is it the guy with curly hair? Harry? The one who always wears headscarves?”

“Shh…Hannah, keep-” he sees Zayn passing by them, and he looks where Zayn glances at the corner before heading out to he campus, and sees Liam and Sophia in a corner.  He hadn’t noticed they were there. “-keep your voice down, please.”

“But is it? is it him?

* * *

**Zayn’s POV:**

Fuck Liam. Seriously. Fuck Liam, with that fucking gorgeous face of his and that perfect smile of his and those brown puppy eyes that make his whole body go weaker. But especially, fuck his own fucking luck. Fuck his luck for deciding it was a good idea to fall in love with his best friend. Because now he has to see him flirting and being snuggly with Sophia and pretend that everything is okay, that it doesn’t annoy him. But it does. He hates the way Sophia kisses his cheek and the way Liam smiles at her and how they walk  everywhere hand in hand. He hates when Liam arrives to their room and he can see hickeys all over his neck, hickeys she gave him and he should be giving them to him instead. He hates when, at night, he can see Liam’s lips flushed because he had been snogging her. He hates that, weeks ago and still to this day, Liam calls her his girlfriend. He hates all that because he wants to be the one who gets to kiss, hug, and to be with Liam. He hates it because everytime he sees them together, he can feel his stomach cringing of jealousy, burning inside. So yeah, fuck Liam.

They are at one of the cafeterias of the University right now, having a coffee, and it’s been awhile since they’ve been alone, because Liam and Sophia go everywhere together now. They are talking about how they can’t wait to see “Captain America: Winter Soldier”. They know they are a little bit more than two months away from it’s release, but they just can’t wait. Not when they are both fans of Superhero movies and they spend nights talking about Marvel and DC movies and watching them. They always fake fight because Liam is more of a DC guy, while Zayn himself prefers Marvel.

“We have to buy tickets as soon as they come out!” Liam smiles, excited. “So we go to the release, like we always do!”

“Excited much?” Zayn teases, and Liam’s smile grows.

“Of course, Zee, you know I love watching movies with you,” he replies softly.

Zayn pulls out a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He knows Liam is not lying, but he wishes he didn’t mean it as “I love watching movies with you because you’re my friend.”

“Well, that’s because I’m the best,” he grins and Liam laughs. Fuck, he loves the way he laughs, crinkles by his eyes.

“Of course you are, that’s why you’re my best friend,” he says. There it is. That’s what he is. His best friend. And don’t get him wrong … Zayn loves being there for Liam, but hearing over and over again, “you’re my best friend” when you want to be something else hurts.

Sometimes he wonders if Liam is just too oblivious, or if he sucks at letting anyone know what his true emotions are. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

He is about to speak again when Sophia and a friend of hers enter the coffee shop and wave at them. Perfect timing. Fucking fantastic. Sophia approaches them, smiling, and sits on Liam’s lap, wrapping an arm around his neck and leaning her head down to kiss him on the lips. It’s painfully slow to watch for Zayn, almost as if time was playing a prank on him.

“Hi, babe, I missed you,” she says, and Liam smiles at her.

Zayn’s hand closes tight around his thigh, nails digging in his flesh over the fabric of his jeans. That’s what he has to do to control himself and not insult somebody. He knows he has no right to doing that, but he just doesn’t understand why Liam likes her so much. Sure, she is pretty. Yes, she has a great body. And yes, she is smart, apparently. But she’s shallow and seems like the type of person who only cares about appearance. Not that he dislikes people who want to look good, Zayn himself is one of them … but Sophia is just …Sophia. He knows she mocked Liam once for his passion about superheroes and he hates her for that. Who does she think she is? And yes, he also hates her because Liam is with her instead of him, but what’s new?

Sometimes he feels that Sophia knows he is in love with Liam. He thinks so because more than once, before kissing him, she stared at him. Or maybe she just thinks she is managing to steal his best friend or whatever away from him, he doesn’t really know. What he does know, however, that he doesn’t like her one bit.

“Missed you too, Soph,” Liam replies, placing a hand on her waist, and Zayn has to do his best not to roll his eyes. Can you blame him? He always wants to roll his eyes when he’s with them…so much, he is afraid of his eyes getting stuck at the back of his skull.

Sophia kisses him again and that’s it. He’s not having it. He’s not in the mood for watching that. He finishes his coffee in one drink and stands up.

“Zee, where you’re going?” Liam asks, blinking at him

“Er, I forgot I had to meet up with Harry. He’s gonna show me something with his camera. I asked him for help with something, so…yeah,” he says. He only said that because it was the first thing that came into his mind, even if it is a blatant lie. He doesn’t, care to be honest, he just wants to leave.

“Oh, okay!” Liam replies, sounding convinced. “So, see you tonight, then? We said we’d watch _Batman_ and _The Dark Knight Rises_.”

“Yeah, yeah…see you tonight,” he says, trying to smile.

“Great!” Liam grins, turning back to Sophia and kissing her on the cheek. Zayn feels sick.

“Bye, Zayn,” Sophia says to him, stroking a hand through Liam’s hair. Ugh.

He leaves quickly, spotting Louis with a blonde girl next to the window, but he looks away, trying to forget the way Sophia kissed Liam’s lips, but not being able of erase that image out of his mind. It’s cloudy and it’s drizzling, but he doesn’t mind. Rain is better than being inside there, anyways. Anything would be better than that.

Zayn is walking when he sees Perrie sitting on the floor, next to a tree, hugging her knees. She looks like she’s been crying. He approaches her slowly and sits next to her without saying a word, just staying quiet.

“What’s wrong…?” he finally asks, staring at her, but Perrie just raises her head and dries the tears off her cheeks. “Pez, babe…” he says again.

“Jade is dating Paul ...”

“Wait, you like Paul…?” Zayn asks, confused.

Perrie looks at him, blankly with an amused expression on her face “Seriously, Zee? Jade. I’m in love with Jade.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’re not the only one in here who’s in love with their best friend,” she huffs, stretching her legs and running her fingers through her long hair.

“That was a low blow,” Zayn chuckles, leaning back and supporting his weight on his elbows. It’s still drizzling, but he likes it. He always has liked the rain. “Does she know?” Perrie shakes her head.“Yeah, I figured she wouldn’t. Liam doesn’t know either.” he sighs and shakes his head. They sit in the rain for a bit, drowning in their sorrow, and then suddenly Louis is joining them.

“Hannah asked me out,” he says with a huff, raising his eyebrows, like he couldn't believe it.

“She did? What? Today after class? Perrie asks, surprised, and Louis nods his head in silence. “And what did you say?”

“That she was a very nice girl but I was into someone else. She didn’t know I like boys, but when I told her…well, it was easy for her to tell it was Harry,” he laughs humorlessly and shaking his head. “Am I really that obvious? Does the whole fucking school see this?”

“You kinda are, yeah…” Perrie admits. “But so am I with Jade and so is Zayn with Liam and they don’t even notice.” She is crying again, tears running down her cheeks. “God, we’re pathetic,” she laughs wetly. “Look at us, pining like lost puppies over our best friends because we’re in love with them, none of us having the guts to actually tell them how we feel.”

And well, this is the second time he is called a coward for not being straight about his feelings with Liam. Perrie was always really sincere, and she called herself a coward too, so he is kinda believing that description about him now. And it seems like Louis is too.

Louis huffs and bites his lips “Listen, Zayn, mate…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I said yesterday.” He looks at him, begging him with his eyes for forgiveness. “Shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“Well, you were right. I have been in love with Liam since I first met him. You were right about that,” he replies.

Zayn snaps his tongue and stares at the sky for a moment, thoughtful. Something clicks suddenly, a brilliant idea that just might work.

“Perrie…you like boys and girls, right?” he asks, and Perrie stares at him, confused.

“Uh…yeah, I do. Why?”

“Well, I like boys and girls too. And many people already thought more than once that we were dating…” he explains as he notices how Louis raises an eyebrow at him. “What if…what if we pretend to date?”

“What? Why would we do that?”

“Because that way…” Louis smiles, mischievously, “You will be able to get Jade and Liam jealous.” Wow, Louis is quick. He had forgotten he knows how his brain works. Louis  was always good at reading him, and it seems like he still is.

“Yeah, that’s exactly why, actually,” Zayn admits, and Louis winks at him.

“Are you serious?” Perrie asks with an amused voice.

“I am.”

“I think it’s brilliant,” Louis admits. “And I think it will work. And it’s true, you two have a good chemistry, it won’t be difficult for you to pretend you’re into each other, even if you’re just friends.”

“Jesus…” Perrie says. She stays quiet a few seconds, staring at her own legs, thinking as she chews her lower lip. “Okay…I’ll do it.” she finally lets out.

“Really?” Zayn asks, excited.

“Yeah, there’s nothing to lose, is there?” she shrugs his shoulders. “What about you, Tommo? Don’t you want to make Harry jealous?”

“Nah…Not my cuppa tea. Plus, he knows I only like boys, and there’s not a single guy in here I’d like to pretend to date.”

“Jamie Campbell-Bower,” Zayn coughs, and both Perrie and Louis laugh.

“Jamie is gorgeous. But he is straight. And he has a girlfriend.”

“And he’s not as pretty as Harry is, right?” he teases

“Yeah…that too”

* * *

**Louis POV:**

The following Friday, all of the University is adorned with pink and red heart balloons, and just hearts everywhere. All the couples walk hand by hand, kissing each other and smiling, and Louis wants to rip his hair off. He never really cared about that special holiday before, mostly because he never had a boyfriend, But now that he wishes certain someone was his Valentine’s date, he feels he could scream his lungs out and groan out of frustration. The previous night, he dreamed about Harry. He dreamed that he would kiss him and that they would become a couple and it was everything so nice and … pink. But when Louis woke up, he realized it was nothing but a dream and he was sad because everything felt just so real. He had had dreams with Harry in them before, but never one like that one. Never one in which he could actually remember Harry’s lips against his.

Harry seems cheerful and happy, just looking at all the couples that passed them. Zayn and Perrie are walking nearby, hand in hand like everyone else. They started their plan that same day, so it had been a week since they had been acting like a couple, and they are doing a pretty good job, even though Louis knows Zayn so much he can tell he has no real heart eyes for her or vice versa. Harry tells him, in secret, that they don’t seem very much in love, just like what he things about Liam and Sophia, but Louis just shrugs his shoulders because he can’t really tell him what’s going on.

That night, they don’t go out. They just stay, the five of them and the girls, Sophia and Jade’s boyfriend as well, playing games and watching movies. If there is too much awkwardness, nobody says anything, but let’s be real, everything is awkward as fuck. He notices the way Zayn hugs Perrie while looking at Liam, the way Perrie lets her eyes drift to Jade and her boy when she doesn’t notice, Liam’s confused looks and the way Liam starts being snappy with everyone. Yeah, there’s tension.

Thing is, during the following days, Zayn is snappy with Liam too. He knows he started becoming more distant when Liam and Sophia started officially dating, but since he started his fauxmance with Perrie, this become worse. In conversations, he won’t reply to him or just ignore him or reply in moody ways. And it’s kind of childish of him, Louis admits. But who is he to judge? Everyone reacts to jealousy in different ways.

Zayn and Perrie go out to celebrate their two week anniversary or something like that, which is really stupid, and Louis is tired, but also relieved it’s finally Friday again. Of course, he doesn’t expect Liam to come to his to talk about Zayn. Niall is not there so he is alone, eating some chips and watching Netflix.

“Hey, Tommo…” he says slowly, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Do you know if Zayn is angry with me? He’s been acting a little bit…distant lately, and I don’t why.” Wow. Okay. Shit, what is he supposed to say? Louis pauses the series and looks at him.

“Listen, Payno…you know I love you, but it’s not me who you should be asking this to.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…it’s just … it’s just that I tried talking to him but he keeps on avoiding me? And I don’t know what to do. It’s killing me, man.”

Crap. What a shitty situation. Louis wishes he could tell him, but he can’t…because he can’t betray Zayn’s trust that way. He sighs.

“You will figure out something, Li, I’m sure. Don’t worry, yeah? Things will turn out just fine,” he smiles and Liam smiles back, even if it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Liam reminds him of himself in that way…he is transparent, and his eyes just express too much about the way he is feeling.

“Thanks, man”

* * *

**Liam’s POV:**

Liam doesn’t understand what’s going on with Zayn. He barely speaks to him anymore, and when he does, he answers him with short words or monosyllables. It’s been like this for about two weeks now and he doesn’t know what to do anymore. He tried talking to him more than once, tried figuring out if he did something wrong. But the truth is he is clueless, and it’s even harder to know what the fuck is wrong considering that Zayn is always finding a good excuse to avoid him or leave when he arrives. He even tried talking to Louis three days ago, but Louis told him he couldn’t say anything. He started becoming a little bit distant when he started dating Sophia, but he thought it might have been because he started dating Perrie too. So, what was the reason? Did he fuck up? Did he betray Zayn’s trust without even noticing? It’s the only thing he can think of, because lately, Zayn just doesn’t seem to trust him as much as he used to.

Earlier that day he found out Zayn and Perrie broke up, and not because Zayn told him, like he thought he would do if this happened, but because he heard people talking about it in the corridors after his first class of the week. The truth is that he didn’t think Zayn and Perrie would get very far - there was no chemistry between them - after all, they didn’t even last twenty days…but Zayn never wanted to speak about his relationship with her. He would always change the subject or just say that it was not his business. But Zayn is not the only one who has gotten out of a relationship. He broke up with Sophia too. He realized he didn’t love her and that he didn’t feel anything when he was with her. He didn't feel those butterflies you’re supposed to feel in your stomach when you’re in love, his mind never went blank when she walked into a room. He realized all that and the first person he wanted to talk to about it is not there for him anymore and seems angry at him.

Liam lays down on his bed and huffs, covering up his face with a pillow. He can feel a scream building in his throat, but he holds it in, not wanting to wake every single person on their floor up. He wants to cry, and that’s not usual for him. He always has his emotions very in check, but at this moment, he’s overwhelmed.

Why is Zayn not there? That’s another thing that has been weird about his best friend. Zayn had been arriving their room late in the night, taking a shower and going to sleep without saying a word. Liam _misses_ him. He misses their talks and late conversations, both the serious and stupid ones. He misses Zayn helping him with his English assignments and teasing him everytime he makes a stupid grammar mistake. He misses cuddling up with him while they watch superhero movies and they argue wether about which one is better, Marvel or DC, Ironman or Batman. He misses Zayn drawing tattoos with a marker on his arms and body and laughing like a little kid when he managed to draw a dick without Liam stoping him. He misses all of it and it’s barely been one week since all that is gone, and he doesn’t think he will be able to keep going like this.

He is sitting in his chair when Zayn arrives. He blinks at him and opens his mouth to speak but before he can say anything, Zayn grabs a pair of cotton pants and locks himself up in the bathroom.

“Zayn!” Liam knocks the door. “Zayn, c’mon!” He knocks again, not getting any answer from him other than the sound of the water turning on.

“Ugh! Fucking great,” Liam groans, knocking once more before giving up.

He sighs and sits on the edge of his bed, staring at his feet. He waits and waits for Zayn to finish showering, trying to figure out what to say when he comes out. He doesn’t know how much time goes by, but it seems like hours for him. Everything seems like hours for him when he has to wait. He has always been really impatient and this time is much more worse, because he feels his heart stuck up in his throat. Finally, he can’t hear the sound of the shower anymore, and a moment later, Zayn is emerging through the door of the bathroom. He stands up and freezes when he sees him, chest glistening with droplets of water and fringe sticking to his forehead, highlighting his honey brown eyes. He stares at him, hooded eyes, and Zayn stares back, swallowing before he looks down to avoid his gaze. Zayn has been doing that a lot lately, refusing to look him in the eye.

“You broke up with Perrie,” Liam says. It is not a question, but he wants Zayn to say something, to act like they’re best friends again.

“Yeah, I did,” Zayn replies without looking at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Liam asks, hurt. “I had to find out through other people, Zayn.” His voice is trembling and he feels tears welling in his eyes. But the truth is, he doesn’t really mind crying in front of Zayn, even though he almost never cries. Zayn is the only person, apart from his mom, who has ever seen him like that and lent a shoulder to him, letting him know that it was okay, that crying didn’t make him weak or less manly. Zayn is so special to him and he doesn’t want to lose him.

“I didn’t know I had to tell you.” he replies coldly. If Zayn’s intention is to hurt him, it’s working, because Liam feels like he was just slapped in the face.

“I thought you would tell me,” is the only thing he can say, because honestly, what else could he possibly add? “I thought that you would let me know.”

“Well, you thought wrong.”

Why is Zayn behaving like this? Why is he replying with cold answers like that one? Why isn’t he giving him an answer like normal people do?

“Are you angry at me, Zee?”

“I’m not angry at you,” he sighs, but Liam doesn’t believe him, not when he’s treating him like shit. He didn’t even look at him while replying, for fuck’s sake.

“Then I don’t get what’s going on, Zayn. Because I can’t even remember the last time we spoke properly. You have been so weird to me lately. Please, just talk to me!”

“I don’t want to talk, Liam. I’m going to bed now.”

“Well, you may not want to talk, but do! I have been trying to talk for you for days now, and all you have been doing so far while I tried fixing things is behaving like a dick to me! And I’m really sorry if I did anything wrong. I’m really am, because the last thing I’d ever want to do is do something to annoy you, but I miss you, Zee. I miss my best friend!” By the time Liam finishes, his voice has raised to a shout.

“But I don’t like you as a friend, Liam!” Zayn shouts back, and now his eyes are glassy as well. Liam stares at him blankly and then realization hits him and he swallows hard.

“What do you mean, you don’t like me as a friend?” He raises his voice even more, feeling angry and confused. “So what were all these years of friendship then? A lie to you? Did you just use me to get closer to the football team or to Louis?! Did you just pretend you liked me to go to parties and hook up with people? What the fuck, Zayn!” Liam knows he doesn’t mean it, knows that he doesn’t truly think of Zayn that way, but at this point, he’s vomiting up words.

“Hook up with people? Are you fucking serious? For fuck’s sake, Liam, that’s not it! Jesus, you’re so fucking blind, I swear!” Zayn is the one screaming now, and fuck, everyone must know about their fight by now.

“Then what the fuck is it?! Why the fuck have you been behaving like a dick every since I started dating Sophia?!”

And then it hits him. He realizes what’s going on as soon as the words leave his mouth. So that’s it. Dating her is the reason why Zayn has been so mad at him those days. He gasps and stares at him, like if he has just been struck by a lightening. “Oh” he gasps.

“Fuck it,” Zayn grunts before leaning forward and grabbing Liam by the face to kiss him, Zayn’s lips crashing down on Liam’s harder than was necessary. Liam is taken aback, but melts into the kiss anyway. Fuck, he has never ever been kissed like that before. Oh my God, he’s in love with him. He is in love with Zayn, he realizes that now. He closes his eyes and wraps his hands around Zayn’s waist timidly. Zayn breaks the kiss and looks at him, eyes darkened but bright at the same time.

Liam pulls him in by the waist to kiss him again. This time, he nibbles at Zayn’s lips and Zayn lets them part, Liam’s tongue delving into Zayn’s mouth and tasting him. Zayn wraps his arms around Liam’s neck and brings him closer, pressing his hips into Liam’s. Liam can’t hold back a small moan as he and Zayn press against each other, but Zayn breaks away again.

“No! No! This is wrong, Liam!” he cries, and Liam just stares at him, now even more confused than he had been before.

“What? Why is this wrong? Because we are two men? Because friends can’t fancy each other?” He doesn’t understand it. Why would be Zayn kiss him like that just to shit on what they did the next minute?

“No, Liam, don’t be stupid! You know that’s not it! This is wrong because you have a fucking girlfriend, and I can’t make you do that. I can make you cheat on her!” he lets out, voice broken.

“Oh.” Liam gasps, realizing Zayn is not aware that Sophia and him are no longer a thing. “Zee, I broke up with Sophia this morning.” he says. “I realized I didn’t like her so … yeah, we ended whatever we had.”

Zayn stares at him, confused. “You broke up with her?” he repeats, pinching his eyebrows.

“I did, yeah…”

“And you didn’t tell me anything? You never told me you wanted to break up with her?”

“Well, that’s very rich coming from you! And how the hell was I supposed to do that when you had been avoiding the shit out of me anyway?” he replies, sadly.

Zayn doesn’t answer, he just kisses him instead, and Liam lets him. He didn’t think Zayn lips would feel so good against his, or rather, he never let himself think about it. Not because Zayn wasn’t pretty, because let’s be honest, Zayn is basically a Greek god, or because he was a man, but because he is his best friend and he never thought it could be any other way. He didn’t want to screw up things or to suffer like he sees Louis suffering about Harry. Not until now. Not until he saw Zayn like that, almost naked, wet chest all covered up by his tattoos, eyes hooded by his raven fringe. And yes, of course he had seen him semi naked before, but never with those eyes. But now that he has finally tasted Zayn, now that he finally knows how it feels to be kissing him, he never wants to stop doing it. So he kisses him harder, intensely, letting his hands wander over Zayn’s body.

He grabs Zayn by the hair and pulls his head back so he can kiss his neck and Zayn groans in pleasure. Wow, he didn’t think Zayn would be into those things, but he seems into it, and Liam isn’t going to stop, not now that Zayn has him all hot and bothered. Liam walks backwards, pulling Zayn along with him, and makes him straddle his hips once he is sitting on the bed. He runs his hands all over Zayn’s chest as Zayn bites and sucks in his lower lip, smirking against them.

Zayn stops kissing him again so he can get rid of Liam’s t-shirt and throw it over his shoulder. He pushes Liam against the mattress, making him lie on his back, settling himself on top of Liam, straddling his hips.

Liam stares at him. Fuck, he is so fucking beautiful. Zayn runs his hands over Liam, all across his chest, starting from his belly and ending up on his throat.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your birthmark?” he asks, placing his fingers on it, and Liam shakes his head. “Well, I do. It drives me fucking crazy.” Zayn smirks before leaning down to press his lips against it. Suddenly, he is not kissing it anymore but trapping the skin on Liam’s throat between his teeth to bite it softly and suck at it. Zayn works a little more on him before leaning up and brushing his fingertips over the bruise he has just left.

Liam takes him down by the neck to kiss him again, this time softer and sloppier, enjoying every trace of his tongue inside Zayn’s mouth. He caresses Zayn’s back, running his fingers over his skin, humming happily against his mouth.

“Fuck, how did we spend so much time without doing this,” he mumbles without taking his lips off Zayn’s.

“Yeah, same.”

They kiss a little bit more until Zayn rolls over, lying next to Liam with his head on his chest, sighing.

“I’m sorry I behaved like a dick, Li. But I didn’t know how to tell you…And I couldn’t stand seeing you with Sophia, that’s why I wasn’t around much. I know I was incredibly selfish, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Zee…you were not selfish, I should have known.” Liam replies. “I really didn’t like seeing you with Perrie either. I thought at first I was jealous because you were spending more time with her than with me, but now I know that was not the reason.”

Zayn chuckles. “Perrie and I never really dated.”

“Well, I mean…you were not that serious.”

“No, you don’t get me. We really didn’t date, we made it all up. We were both pissed because you were dating Sophia and Jade was dating that guy named Mark or whatever, so we pretended to date to get you both jealous.”

“Wait, what?” Liam opens his eyes as dishes. “Perrie’s in love with Jade? You dated her to get me jealous?” he asks, amused.

“Yes, she likes Jade and I think they are together now, actually…And yes, I wanted to get you jealous. Please, don’t get mad at me.” he looks at him hesitantly, as if waiting for Liam to blow up, but Liam smiles.

“I’m not mad, Zee.” he chuckles. “I’m just shocked, that’s all…I would have never guessed.”

“It was pretty pathetic, really,” Zayn confesses. “Both Perrie and I, and also Louis, whining and crying because we are in love with our best friends.”

Liam stares at him and caresses his cheek. “C’mere” he whispers before kissing him again “I’m in love with you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Did you like the Ziam part? Did I disappoint you? Flowers or tomatoes? If you liked it, and if you are liking the fic so far, please leave kudos and comments!  
> You can also read my other fics and you can also find me on twitter @RopeAndAnchorLS


	5. A Twisted Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, finally, chapter five! Only two chapters left after this one! I have the feelings that you will fucking hate me, so please, don't! This chapter is going to be quite a ride so bear with me. This one will be mostly Louis' POV except from one part which you will see when you get to it.  
> Thanks a lot to my lovely beta and friend Liz aka @Dont_Stop_Larry who edits chapter by chapter, making this something readable.  
> Once again [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is a photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University.  
> Enjoy!

**Louis' POV**  

So Liam and Zayn had finally started dating, and though they’ve only been officially together for a week, they seem very much smitten with each other. Louis is really happy for them and glad that they finally talked to each other about what was going on there. It’s been a week since March started, and Louis can’t believe how quickly times goes by. He’s also glad it’s finally Friday, because he’s finally having a night out with the lads before football and group projects - Mr. Grimshaw put him with a really weird group - take over. Then he will have another week, though less busy than before, still involving a few important things, before the Easter Break. He is kinda looking forward to going back home so he can be with Ernie and Doris again. His mother sends him photos of them every week to show them how they are growing up and he can’t believe how beautiful they both are.

He walks through the corridors, dressed up in his joggers and oversized hoodie. Yes, he went dressed like that to class that day, but he doesn’t really care, especially now when he has to perform and he prefers being cozy to do so. Perrie was in a excellent mood that day, probably because she fixed things with Jade. Yay. Love is in the air…For everyone but him. Fuck it.

He grins like an idiot when he sees Harry, but his smiles falls when he notices that he is talking to Xander. He had to give classes to him twice that week, and Louis can’t help feeling jealous over the time they are spending together. But what’s new, right?

Louis approaches him and Harry wraps an arm around him, supporting his weight on him.

“Oi, you’re a heavy bear,” Louis giggles.

“Maybe, but you’re pocket sized,” Harry winks at him, teasing. Louis laughs, but has to ignore the way his stomach jumps at that and the heat that rises to his cheeks. It doesn’t mean anything, but still.

“Ha-ha, you’re really funny, Harold,” he replies, faking his anger, and Harry lets out a laugh.

Xander raises a cocky eyebrow at him, scrunching his face like he had just smelled shit. What an utter idiot.

“So, Harry, can you give me classes today?” he asks, licking his lips.

“Oh, sorry Xander, not today! Promised Lou that we’re going to have a coffee and after that we’re going to have a movie night with the guys, because it’s been awhile since we last had one!” he answers in his beautiful slow voice, and Louis tries not to smile. “But I can this Sunday?” he suggests. Damn. Sometimes Harry is way too generous for his own good.

“Oh, yeah, okay. What are you going to watch? Maybe I can join you! I love movie nights!”

Louis has to keep himself from making a disgusted face. Over his dead body.

“That’d be amazing,” Harry chuckles, “But we’re actually going to the movies to see Grand Budapest Hotel with the guys, and we already bought the tickets. Sorry, next time maybe!”

Next time, maybe? Louis hopes Harry is just saying this to be polite, because he will never welcome fucking Xander to their movie nights.

“Oh. Okay, see you on Sunday, then.” he replies before leaving.

“Did you really buy the tickets?” Louis quirks an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes! Had to hurry before they ran out because I really need to see this movie!” he says, excited. Louis can’t help but feel slightly disappointed that Harry hadn’t lied about the tickets to get rid of Xander, but he’ll take what he can get, as long as Xander isn’t there.

They have a really good time while drinking coffee, laughing quite a lot and talking about nonsense, and Harry telling him everything he has learned with the book Louis gifted him.  

The movie is great. Zayn and Liam don’t actually see it because they spend most of the film making out with each other, but he, Niall, and Harry enjoy it very much. In the middle of the movie, Niall moves a sit forward because he can’t concentrate with Liam and Zayn, so he and Harry end up pretty much alone, kinda giggling both at his friends and at the movie, which is hilarious. Like every other time they watch a movie, Harry snuggles into him, and Louis just has to remind himself how to breathe.

* * *

Harry joins them for dinner on Monday, after giving Xander classes. Louis can’t believe that Harry is still helping him. He already had to make a space in his schedule for him the day before, even if it was Sunday, and now he is helping him again.

The thing is, he doesn’t trust Xander, and neither does Niall or any of the boys, for that matter. But Niall, being one of Harry’s best friends, is always keeping an eye on him. And he has told Louis more than once that he hates him, and he’s considering talking to Harry about it, because there is something fishy about the whole thing. Niall tells him, and Louis thinks so too, that Xander doesn’t actually need classes, that he is trying to hit on Harry or something like that. So Niall insists that they need to tell him Harry about this and make him aware of what they believe is going on.

Niall asks Harry to go to their room before going to bed, and Harry agrees. Once they are there, Niall closes the door at looks at him.

“Listen, Harry, we need to talk to you,” he says, his voice serious, and Harry looks slightly nervous at his tone.

“Did something happen?”

“No, not really.” Niall shakes his head “We just wanted to talk to you about Xander.”

“Oh, what about him?”

“Well…we don’t really know the intentions behind the support classes,” he explains. Louis just stays quiet, feeling that it’s probably better to let Niall do the talking.

“Wait, you think I’m giving him classes because I want to be with him or something like that?” he asks, and Louis thinks he’s a little bit hurt.

“No. The other way round, actually,”

“Nah…Xander just needs classes. He doesn’t fancy me or anything like that,” Harry laughs, shaking his head.

Niall sighs and rubs his eyes.

“Jesus, Harry. You’re really blind sometimes.”

“What? Do you think I’m stupid, or … or whatever?” he asks, annoyed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No, Hazza…Of course we don’t think that,” Louis finally speaks. “You’re one of the smartest people I know. I just think you are way too kind to see that some people’s intentions are not as good as yours.”

“Well, I know how to take care of myself,” he shoots back. Fuck, this is all going wrong. He never wanted to make Harry angry.

“Okay, Harry, we just wanted to tell you what we think,” Niall replies, trying to stay reasonable, but Louis can tell that Niall is getting frustrated.

“Well, if that’s it, I’m leaving then.”

Louis sighs when Harry leaves the room. He hates Xander, but he can’t help thinking if it is just because he feels jealous. But with Niall hating him too, he feels he might not be so mistaken.

Niall puts on a movie and Louis tries to watch it with him, but he can’t pay any attention, not when Harry might be angry at him.

So he picks his phone, taps the screen, and thinks a bit before typing in a message.

 

 **_Louis:_ ** _Sorry if I annoyed you, it was not my intention._

 **_Harry:_ ** _I could never be annoyed at you._

 

How did he let a boy turn his world upside down like this? Louis doesn’t want to admit it, but his heart really hurts when he falls asleep.

* * *

Louis is exhausted. He can’t remember the last time he has been this tired, and he wishes he could just go to his room, lay on his bed, and sleep for the next week. He had to do a lot of assignments in those three days for classes, Mr. Grimshaw yelled at him for no reason that day like he always does, and his group partners have been being a fucking pain in the ass because they are all a bunch of lazy fucks who won’t do what they are supposed to do. Not to mention the coach has just knackered them in practice by making them run two miles and by making them do sit ups and push ups and then by playing a game of thirty minutes because they have a big game that Friday, and it’s the last one before Easter Break. His body is killing him, his back hurts, and he is so stressed he could cry right now. So yes, he is just not having it, and the smallest thing could probably set him off.

He enters the dressing room, all covered in mood and dirt, and goes straight to the showers. He turns the water on and stays under it for a few minutes, forehead pressed against the cold tiles, letting the hot water run all over his body so his muscles can feel a little more relaxed. After fifteen minutes, when his back and his neck aren’t so sore anymore, he turns off the water, dries himself off, and puts on his clean clothes. Liam is waiting for him with Zayn at the door so the three of them can leave together.

Ever since Liam and Zayn started dating about two weeks ago, Zayn hasn’t missed a single one of their practices. Sure, he went to all the matches before to support them and all that, but now that they are properly together, it seems like they don’t want to be apart for one second. He doesn’t blame them, to be honest. He is really happy for them and he is glad that they could come to terms with their feelings, but right now he is just exhausted and doesn’t want to watch them all cuddled up and kissing each other. Sue him. Call him a dickhead. He’s just not in the mood for love in the air.

He puts on his sweatshirt and his beanie before stepping outside, followed by Liam and Zayn, who had realized he is moody so they didn’t say a word. The sky is already dark and it’s fucking cold. Why is it so cold when it is not even winter?

Louis sees two people on the pitch, laughing. He soon realizes it is Xander with a friend of his. He shoots a confused looks at Liam and Zayn and glares at Xander again.

“Ritz, what are you doing here?” he asks, annoyed.

“Just hanging around. Why, Tomlinson? Can’t I do that?” he replies, and yes, he can … But he stills finds it weird. And Xander had been acting weird since Harry told him he couldn’t give classes to him because he had to watch a movie with Louis.

“You can. We just don’t know why are you here, that’s all.” Liam replies for him.

“Didn’t Harry come to see you, Tomlinson?” Xander says, ignoring Liam, and what the fuck, why is he even asking that?

“Seems like you have quite some observant skills, haven’t you?” he shoots back, sarcastically. Yeah, Harry usually goes to practices and takes photos of them he later uploads to the campus site, but he couldn’t make it that day because he has an exam and he has been studying for three days straight now, so he has barely seen him this whole week, let alone at practice.

“Don’t play smart, Tomlinson. I know he has a big exam coming, but he did manage to meet up with me, so I’d figured he was going to be here too.” he says with an annoying cocky smile on his face. Louis wants to punch it right off his stupid face. Xander must have noticed that his answer annoyed him because he adds, gaining again like the idiot he is, “Oh, are you mad that he is actually spending more time with me that he is with you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Louis manages to say. “Harry is a grown man and he can choose who he want to spend his time with.”

“Of course, he can. Couldn’t have said it any better, and that is why he actually spends time with me, while avoiding spending time with you.”

“Mate, you better shut your fucking mouth,” Zayn warns him, grinding his teeth. Louis knows he doesn’t like him either, and while it’s quite easy for Louis to get angry, Zayn is usually the contrary, but he can see that Zayn is about to put Xander on the ground.

“You shut up, Malik. This is between Tomlinson and m,.” Xander stares at him in a threateningly way. He looks back at Louis and his lips turn up in that annoying smirk of his. “Do you think Harry even likes you? He doesn’t, mate, I’m telling you that, so you get used to the idea. He thinks you’re lame, pathetic. Tells me every day how much he can’t stand you. And the only reason he really hangs out with you is because he feels sorry for you.” Louis clenches his teeth, breathing heavily, vain pumping on his forehead.

“Louis, don’t listen to him. He is trying to get a reaction out of you!” Liam mumbles in his ear, before raising his voice so everyone could hear him. “Let’s go, Tommo, this isn’t worth it.”

Liam is right. It’s easy to talk when you’re not the one being insulted, but he is right. So he nods his head and they start walking.

“Dickhead,” Zayn mutters when they pass through them.

They take a few steps and Louis can hear Xander talking to him again. He wants to ignore him, he really does, but every word out of his mouth annoys him more.

"Did you really think you had a chance with him? That he would choose you over me?” Louis stops on his tracks because how the fuck does he know? Is he that obvious? And has Xander just confirmed that he himself is into Harry as well? He ignores Zayn’s hand on his shoulder, which trying to make him walk again, and spins around, glaring at Xander. “You know he doesn’t really give me classes, right? What we really do is sneak around to shag.” Louis’ stomach drops to the floor. No, he can’t be hearing right, Harry told him there was nothing going on there. “He loves doing it in empty classrooms. I fuck him deep and good and he loves it so fucking much. He is always asking me for more. You should hear him when he begs for me to pound him. He is getting addicted to me, to my dick, he fucking loves every second of it.”

Louis can feel the rage throughout his entire body. He wants to vomit, but his anger gets the better of him. “Shut the fuck up!” he screams, saying the first words that pop into his head. Of course Xander doesn’t listen; he hears him, of course, but he continues anyway.

“You are so lame, Tomlinson.” he chuckles, coldly. “He knows that you’re gone for him, with those stupids gifts of yours, acting like you knew anything about him, and he laughs about it because he can’t believe how dumb and pathetic you are.” Xander sneers, and Louis doesn’t want to listen anymore. He is 99% sure that Xander is lying, but that doesn’t stop his words from hurting. “Sucks that you’re so into him, since he’s addicted to me and he won't quit letting me fuck him. You have no idea how much he loves my cock. He especially loves sitting on it, riding me like a good boy. You should hear him when he moans and screams my name. ‘Fuck yeah, Xander’ ‘Yeh, Xander, right there’. It’s beautiful, really.”

Louis feels sick to the stomach and he can feel his hands shaking. Xander is talking about Harry like he’s a sexual object or some prize to brag about and not a person. He is talking out loud about things that should remain in the privacy of the bedroom, between him and Harry, if all this was true.

“Leave him alone! Don’t you dare touch him again!” he screams, starting to go for Xander, but Zayn held him back.

“He’s also a great sucker, did you know that? Lets me fuck that pretty mouth of his.”

Louis struggles against Zayn’s arms, but then Liam is there, pulling Louis back.

“Liam, leave me the fuck alone!” he yells, struggling for all he’s worth to get free of his friends.

“Louis, it’s not worth it! He’s not worth it,” Liam looks him right in the face, holding him tightly so he doesn’t try to escape. “He is just a fucking dickhead who is making all this up to make you like this!”

“Don’t give him the pleasure, Tommo. You’re better than he is. Please, let’s just leave.” Zayn says to him, trying to soothe him.

Louis nods, his eyes filling with unwanted tears, and turns away from Xander, walking quickly away. Xander shouts at his back, but this time he doesn’t listen. He also ignores his friends trying to catch up with his speed, calling out his name.

“Louis! Louis!” Liam says, practically running behind him because Louis is moving faster. He doesn’t want to talk. “Louis, for fuck’s sake, wait! Louis!”

“What?!” he turns around, and Liam stares at him, shocked, not answering. “What do you want, Liam?!”

“He was obviously lying. You need to talk with Harry about this.” he says.

“No fucking way.”

“Louis…” Zayn says this time.

“No, guys. There are two possibilities. Either he is lying about fucking him, like you said, in which case telling Harry would be spreading his lies,” he pauses, swallowing hard. “Or he is telling the truth, in which case Harry is happy shagging him and I can’t do anything about it because I have no right and I’d be selfish.”

“You know, I thought Liam was happy with Sophia too, and if I had talked with him before, we would have gotten together earlier. We delayed things all because we, and especially, I, didn’t want to talk.” Zayn says.

“It’s not the same thing.” he shakes his head, willing himself not to cry.

“How is not the same thing, Louis?” Liam asks.

“It’s just not. You two have been best friends for almost three years now, and it’s not the same.”

“You’re not making any sense, Tommo. You’re just making up stupid excuses not to do this and face things, and you know it.” Zayn says, staring at him. “Just like I did before talking to Liam. It’s the exact same fucking thing.”

“Whatever.” Louis replies, annoyed, before he keeps on walking, leaving his friends behind. Yes, Zayn is right, but he doesn’t want to admit that.

When he arrives in his room, he puts in his headphones and plays his music at full volume, trying to block out his thoughts with lyrics. But Xander’s words are louder, and he can’t get them out of his head. They are like a bug inside his brain, repeating everything over and over again, and Louis can’t get rid off those images. He can’t get rid off the idea of Harry being with Xander in any way, but especially in an intimate way. He can’t forget about Xander telling him that Harry thinks he’s pathetic and the only reason he is around him is because he feels sorry for him. He rubs his hands over his cheeks to get rid of the tears sliding down them. He hates this so fucking much. Why the fuck did he have to fall in love with his best friend?

He doesn’t hear when the door is opened because of the music, but he sees Niall entering the room and shooting a confused and worried look at him.

Niall sits on his bed and stares at him, so Louis takes out his headphones.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asks.

Louis shakes his head.

“Okay…if you change your mind, lemme know.” he says, and Louis nods.

He listens to a few more songs until he can’t take it anymore. He needs to get everything off his chest. Because yes, both Liam and Zayn know…but he still feels that he has to share this with Niall.

He takes off his headphones again, sits so he can look at Niall, and wets his lips before starting to talk. He tells him everything that just happened, trying not to cry, and Niall listens. When he’s finished, his roommate looks angry and pissed.

“I’m going to fucking kill him!” he blurts out. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” he repeats, clenching his fists, but then he closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “Okay…” he huffs, trying to calm himself down. “First of all, do you really think Harry hangs out with you because he thinks you’re pathetic and feels sorry for you? Do you really think Harry is that kind of man?”

Wow, now he feels guilty. When Niall says it like that, he realizes that he’s being completely stupid - not that he can help it. He replies, “No, I don’t think he’s that kind of person.”

He knows Niall is right, he doesn’t think Harry is like that…But it is easy having low self-esteem sometimes, especially when pricks like Xander say all those horrible things to you.

“Louis, Harry fucking adores you, that’s the reason why he spends so much time with you, not because he think you’re lame. That doesn’t even make sense! And I mean, I know that sometimes it’s easy to believe shit, but Louis, those are blatant lies!”

Louis doesn’t answer, he just nods his head, agreeing with what Niall is saying because he doesn’t have the strength to talk.

“And I really doubt he is shagging him like he said. I mean, Harry is not loud about what he likes or he doesn’t like in bed, but just the last week we asked him about this and he implied very clearly he didn’t fancy him, and that he was sure Xander didn’t fancy him either. So, considering the fact that Xander does fancy him but Harry is too oblivious to notice it, I really doubt that is happening.” he finishes saying and Louis takes a deep breath, thanking God for sending him Niall, the voice of reason. “Alright?”

“Yeah, alright,” he nods.

* * *

 **Xander’s POV:**  

That Tomlinson dude is getting on his nerves and ruining everything. Who does he think he is? He is no one compared to him. No one. He is just a stupid little guy who thinks he is too cool and follows Harry everywhere he goes like a lost puppy. Fucking pathetic. And he has the nerve to be sarcastic with him? As if. He does not regret what he did … Louis deserved being told all those things. Especially after he ruined what he had planned the other day. He was going to spend all night with Harry in that empty classroom, but no … Mr “I’m in love with my best friend and I whine about it” had to arrive and remind him they had a movie night. Movie night? What is he? Fucking twelve? And he can’t stand him anymore. He knows he pushed something, that he stuck a finger in a wound, but he needs to be more clear. He needs to send a message, so that Louis learns he is not the guy you mess up with.

He walks through the grounds of the campus with the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and his hands in his pockets. If he doesn’t hurry, he’s going to be late. He exits the building and a few minutes later of walking, he arrives to a bar. When he enters, he goes straight to the booth over the corner where two people are waiting for him.

“Xander!” a tall dude, with brown eyes and blond messy hair, smirks at him.

“Hi, Sean.” he says, drinking a sip of the pint the guy is having.

“So, what was so urgent?”

Xander leans back over his chair and raises his eyebrows, smirking slightly.

“You’re playing against us this Friday, right?” he asks. Sean is a friend of his who goes to Sheffield University and is on their football team. He is not the captain, but he is really good at it and he is also…Well, let’s just say that he enjoys playing dirty, that he enjoys throwing some kicks here and there. And that’s why Sean is the perfect guy for him right now.

“Yeah, I am. Why?”

“Remember the guy I told you about, Louis Tomlinson?” he asks and Sean nods. “Well, I need you to take him out of the game. You know … Do that stuff you do so he doesn’t play anymore this year.”

“You want to injure a guy from your own university?” the guy who is not Sean asks. “But why?”

“Because, Hugh, he sticks his nose where he is not supposed to and he needs to be taught a lesson.” Xander replies, licking his lips at the mere thought. Tomlinson made his blood boil.

“I see ... so what do you want me to do?” Sean asks

“I don’t know. You’re the expert on the matter. Break his leg or his knee, something like that,” he shrugs his shoulders.

“Are you fucking crazy?!” Hugh asks “Sean, this is not right, man.” he looks at him. “The whole team could be put in danger, and you just can’t break someone’s knee!”

“Shut up, Hugh, why are you even here?!” Xander says and Sean laughs. “So, are you in?”

“Well … it’s not gonna be free.”

“Money is not an issue for me, you know that,” Xander says, leaning forward with a smug smile on his face.

Sean smiles back. “Yeah, I’m in”

* * *

 **Louis' POV**  

The big day came. Louis is about to play a match against Sheffield and he’s actually really nervous. He doesn’t know why, because he is usually really chill and calm before the games, but he can feel his hands shaking as he rubs his thigh, a nervous habit of his.

Shawn is singing. He composed a song a few weeks ago and hasn’t stopped singing it, and Louis has to admit, he really likes it. He even learned the lyrics just from listening because it’s really beautiful.

Liam claps him on the shoulder, trying to soothe him, and Louis grins at him. Only a few minutes later, it’s time, and they get up and head onto the field together, eyeing their rivals from across the pitch. Most of them are really big and tall, but Louis is agile and uses his small body to his advantage, so that makes him calm down a bit. Harry, Niall and Zayn are at the stands, cheering at them, and Harry even has his camera around his neck, prepared to take pictures of the whole match. His pictures are always sick and he always captures the best moments of the game.

Some rows behind Harry, he can see Xander next to another guy from the Lacrosse team. Xander catches his eye and raises his eyebrows, smirking. Louis swallows, not breaking eye contact, throwing a murderous look at him. He has never hated a guy so much in his life.

Louis goes to his place and stands in front of the Sheffield captain, who smiles politely at him. He knows that dude, has seen him around in other games and he is a good player, a really great competitor because he keeps things clean, but he is fucking good. Louis and the other captain shake hands and the referee blows his whistle. The game starts.

It doesn’t take long before Shawn is scoring the first goal, thanks to a swift and clean pass from Liam, and Louis yells in triumph. Sheffield almost scores too, but their goalkeeper stops the ball from coming into the net, nearly throwing himself on the ground in his attempt to stop the ball. He kicks it back into play and the game continues. It’s a very back and forth game, requiring a lot of running up and down the field, and Louis can already feel the sweat running down the sides of his face, making his hair stick to the back of his neck. His legs are not tired yet though, and that’s good. They are about 30 minutes in the first half when Nathan Sykes, a guy two years younger than him, makes a great pass and Louis is able it to score a goal right into the corner of the net. Liam runs to him and lifts him up in the air, celebrating, and the whole team runs to him to jump into a group hug. Louis smiles widely and he can see Harry lifting a thumb at him. Being the annoying ass that he is, Xander throws an annoyed look and raises his eyebrows at one of the dudes of the other team, a dude he has seen playing before and kinda loathes because he likes kicking the players. Louis doesn’t like people who play dirty.

Half time starts and Louis goes to the bench to have some water. Playing kills him and dehydrates him, so he needs to recover. Nathan comes next to him and smiles.

“Great pass, Nathan, it was awesome!” Louis tells him.

“Oh well, you scored, though, that’s the main thing.”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t have scored if it hadn’t been for you. You’re playing so well tonight, I’m proud of you!”

“Thanks so much!” he answers, enormous grin spreading over his face. Nathan is usually a shy guy, but he is amazing and he is always helping people, so Louis is happy to have him on the team.

Liam and Shawn are doing a dumb dance, making the crowd laugh, and Louis can’t help the snort that leaves him. Zayn is looking at Liam, half turned on, half dying of tenderness, he thinks, because he is biting his lips but he also has crinkles by the corners of his eyes. Harry is laughing too, his hand over his mouth to cover up his giggles, and Louis’ heart aches to be next to him. But he can’t focus on that … he has a game to play.

The second half starts, and Louis starts running again. Sheffield almost scores another time, but their goalkeeper saves them again, and Louis can’t believe how much he has improved over the season.

Shawn kicks the ball to Liam, Liam kicks it to Louis, so Louis starts running fast, moving the ball expertly between his feet as he advances up the field, avoiding the rivals as he makes his way to the opposite net. He’s already in the area and about to kick when he sees the dude who made eye-contact with Xander coming at him. He can see that the dude is about to kick him, to go for his leg, so Louis jumps, trying to avoid getting knocked over. He lands wrong, however, trying to avoid stepping on the other player - no matter how dirty the guy was playing, he didn’t want to hurt him - and throws his arm out to break his fall, his wrist bending backwards.

“Dude, what the fuck?! What did you do that for?” the opposite goal keeper screams at his teammate. He approaches Louis and helps him stand up, grabbing him by the hand he hasn’t injured.

“Are you alright?” he asks him. “Fuck, I’m so sorry about what my team did, that was a fucking bad move.”

“Yeah, just bent my wrist a bit, not your fault,” Louis replies, holding his wrist and slowly trying to move it in circles, but he winces at the pain.

“Well, he was about to score! What was I supposed to do?” the blonde one screams.

“Yes, but that was no reason for trying to kick his legs out, asshole!” the goalkeeper shouts at him.

“What the fuck happened?!” the Sheffield captain screams, approaching them with the referee and Manchester team behind.

The referee takes out a red card and shows it to the blond guy screaming “Out!”

“Oh, c’mon, is this a joke?! Dude, he obviously faked that fall!”

“Mate, you fucking came at me!” Louis yells back, and the blonde guy scowls.

“Oh, don’t be such a crybaby!” he retorts.

“That’s it, man, you’re off of the team, I told you that the next time that you pulled something like this I was going to kick your ass out!” the captain screams, his face reddening with anger, and the blonde guy looks even angrier than he had before. “I’m so sorry,” he adds, looking at Louis.

“Not your fault,” Louis says, unable to contain his glee that this guy is about to not only be kicked off the field, but off of his own team as well.

“Well, this is a penalty” the coach says. “So, you go…”

Louis nods as every player goes back to their place. The goal keeper stares at him and Louis licks his lips in thought, deducing where is better to kick. He finally makes a decision, and when the whistle blasts, he kicks. Goal.

They win the match 3-0, and when it’s over, the captain and goalkeeper approach him, apologizing earnestly for what happened. Louis shakes hands with them kindly and then heads for his own bench and his own celebrating team.  Zayn and Harry come running into them to hug him for the victory, but Louis’ eyes flicker up to Xander. He will never forget how annoyed Xander looked. He can’t help but wonder why Xander even showed up … and what his connection was to the blonde guy.

* * *

The Friday of the following week, they are all going out to a bar to celebrate and drink something before the Easter Break. Everyone is going. The whole football team, the swim team, the lacrosse team - meaning fucking Xander will be there - Harry, Zayn, Niall, the girls, literally everyone. Louis is kinda excited, because they are going to a karaoke bar and those were always super fun for him, because he loved to sing.

When they arrive, they all settle down around a big table. He knows he should be thrilled, but he also can’t help thinking about the conversation he had with Xander days ago.

He sits in between Shawn, who smiles at him, and Jamie Campbell Bower, who is next to his girlfriend. Damn, that dude has got some style with his nose ring and his blonde locks and his rockish persona look. He is way too pretty, and Louis would probably be pining over him if he wasn’t straight, or more specifically if he wasn’t in love with Harry. Ever since he fell for Harry, he hasn’t got eyes for anyone else. Literally no one. But of course, Louis didn’t really have a chance to speak to Harry, because Xander sat down next to him immediately and was engaging Harry in conversation at every available moment.

“Great game today, dude. You were amazing!” Jamie smiles, and Louis grins back. “You truly smashed it.”

“Thanks, Jamie, you were great out there too,” Louis answers, looking around for a waiter.

Louis orders himself a pint and starts drinking, not enough to get drunk, but enough not to lose his shit at the way Xander is staring at Harry.

“I hate him.” he grumbles, taking another swig of his drink.

“Who?” Jamie turns his head to look in the direction Louis is staring at.“Oh, Xander. What did I tell you? He’s a major dick.”

“Oh, yes, he is,” Lilly agrees, joining in on their conversation.

“Do you know him?” Louis raises his eyebrows as he looks at Lilly, and she nods.

“I’m in the class with him. He is the cockiest person I have ever met, so full of himself … He isn’t even that pretty, and he has the IQ of a fucking jellyfish. It’s hard for me to truly dislike someone, but Xander? I’m telling you, he’s nasty.”

Wow. So _everyone_ hates Xander. Everyone but Harry, who doesn’t seem to realize that he is being friend of a dick and major douchebag. Good to know. He has another drink, and then Harry is climbing up on stage to sing the first song of the night. He realizes now that he has never heard Harry sing before, so when he opens his mouth, Louis is struck by how beautiful Harry’s voice is. He wants to die; as if he needed another reason to love him even more that he already does. As if he needed another reason to fall harder for him. Harry smiles as he sings “Jolene”, and he actually has the voice for it, raspy and perfect, really unique. Louis can’t stop watching him, but he can’t also help noticing the way Xander stares at him, licking his lips, as if he was a predator about to catch his prey.

“Hey, Louis…” Shawn suddenly whispers into his ear, and Louis nearly upsets his drink.

“Jesus, fuck, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry,” Shawn chuckles. “I’m going up to sing my song.”

“That’s awesome.”

“I want you to sing it with me.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” he asks, amused but also a bit nervous. He’d never been asked to sing with someone else on such short notice.

“Nope. C’mon, Tommo. I know you know the lyrics. Please. Please. Pleaseeeee ...”

“Fine, fine, stop fucking whining. I’ll go!”

Shawn smiles before dragging him by the hand. He plugs in an USB with the background of the track before saying, “Well, this is a song I wrote myself, and Tommo here is gonna help me out. So, uhm, I hope you like it, because I’m really proud of it.”

The crowd cheers and Louis shakes his head, laughing. He is really nervous, and of course, his brain chooses that moment to remember that Harry has never heard him sing either. His nerves increase as the background track starts playing.

Shawn starts singing:

 

_I won't lie to you_

_I know he's just not right for you_

_And you can tell me if I'm off_

_But I see it on your face_

_When you say that he's the one that you want_

_And you're spending all your time_

_In this wrong situation_

_And anytime you want it to stop_

 

Then Louis joins. And he can feel the lyrics. He can feel it in his bones. He wonders if that is the reason why Shawn asked him to sing with him. He sings them, thinking of all the nasty things Xander said. Because if they are true, Harry deserves much more better than him. He stares at Harry while singing them, but his eyes flicker to Xander every now and then.

 

_I know I can treat you better than he can_

_And any girl like you deserves a gentleman_

_Tell me why are we wasting time_

_On all your wasted crying_

_When you should be with me instead_

_I know I can treat you better_

_Better than he can_

 

Louis is the lead voice now. Does he mean what he sings next? Absolutely. Every single fucking word. Fuck, he would sail the ends of the Earth for Harry. And he relates to everything so fucking much that his voice kinda rips his throat, coming out a little bit raspy.

 

_I'll stop time for you_

_The second you say you'd like me to_

_I just wanna give you the loving that you're missing_

_Baby, just to wake up with you_

_Would be everything I need and this could be so different_

_Tell me what you want to do_

 

They sing together again. Shawn smirks at him, knowing what his intentions are. It seems like it is like that with every single one there.

 

_'Cause I know I can treat you better than he can_

_And any girl like you deserves a gentleman_

_Tell me why are we wasting time_

_On all your wasted crying_

_When you should be with me instead_

_I know I can treat you better_

_Better than he can_

 

_Better than he can_

 

_Give me a sign_

_Take my hand, we'll be fine_

_Promise I won't let you down_

_Just know that you don't_

_Have to do this alone_

_Promise I'll never let you down_

 

_'Cause I know I can treat you better than he can_

_And any girl like you deserves a gentleman_

_Tell me why are we wasting time_

_On all your wasted crying_

_When you should be with me instead_

_I know I can treat you better_

_Better than he can_

_Better than he can_

_Better than he can_

 

Everyone stands up and claps, cheering, and Shawn pats his back.

“Thanks, man. That was great.”

Louis stays on the stage, because something in him wants to sing another. Probably the alcohol, but at this point, he doesn’t care. He moves over to the piano and sits down, letting his fingers run along the tops of the keys.

 

“Okay, I promise this is the last song I’ll be singing, so don’t boo me off, please,” he jokes, and everyone laughs.

 

He starts playing, and then, he sings:

 

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_I'll be the one if you want me to_

_Anywhere I would've followed you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_And I... am feeling so small_

_It was over my head_

_I know nothing at all_

_And I... will stumble and fall_

_I'm still learning to love_

_Just starting to crawl_

 

He has a knot on his throat. He doesn’t want to give up on Harry, of course he doesn’t. But if Harry is happy without him, then so it be. He won’t do anything to destroy his happiness. He won’t be that selfish.

 

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

_Anywhere I would've followed you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 

_And I... will swallow my pride_

_You're the one that I love_

_And I'm saying goodbye_

 

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

_And anywhere I would've followed you (Oh-Ooh)_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

 

_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_Say something..._

 

He goes back to his seat, not even looking at anybody, because he practically just spilled his feelings all over the stage. Harry smiles at him and gives him a thumbs up, and Louis smiles slightly back at him. Xander is clenching his jaw, but he then smiles at Harry and touches his shoulder before leaning to whisper something into his ear. He can’t see Harry’s expression, though. Liam and Zayn go up next and sing “Cry me a river”, and Niall sings “Blowing In The Wind”, before going back to campus because he isn’t feeling very well. Jamie kills it with an acoustic song he sings with his guitar, and then Harry goes again.

 

_There's a song that's inside of my soul._

_It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again_

_I'm awake in the infinite cold._

_But you sing to me over and over and over again._

 

Fuck, is Harry looking at him? No, he can’t be.

 

_So, I lay my head back down._

_And I lift my hands and pray_

_To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours_

_I know now you're my only hope._

 

_Sing to me the song of the stars._

_Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again._

_When it feels like my dreams are so far_

_Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again._

 

Harry smiles and goes on, and Louis thinks he might be going crazy.

 

_So I lay my head back down._

_And I lift my hands and pray_

_To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours_

_I know now, you're my only hope._

 

_I give you my destiny._

_I'm giving you all of me._

_I want your symphony, singing in all that I am_

_At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back._

 

_So I lay my head back down._

_And I lift my hands and pray_

_To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours_

_I pray, to be only yours_

_I know now you're my only hope._

 

That’s it. In that moment, hearing Harry’s words wash over, him, he decides. He’s going to tell Harry everything. He will confess his love for him because he can’t take it any longer. The lights go out because the karaoke is over and the DJ his about to start playing music, so this is his chance. He goes to the bathroom first, to wash his face and give himself a pep talk. When he goes back out, however, the air suddenly leaves out his body, leaving him breathless, and he can feel his heart being ripped into tiny little pieces.

Xander is kissing Harry. Xander’s hands are on Harry’s body and his lips are on Harry’s lips. Louis feels sick and he stumbles into the bar, trying not to look like his heart is breaking, trying not to look like if his whole world just came undone. Having Xander told him he kissed Harry was one thing. Having actually witnessed it was completely different. An entirely different level of pain.

He just stands there, leaning on the bar for a moment, before heading for the door, trying not to let people see the tears that are regrettably pouring down his cheeks. He’s too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me! I promise, PROMISE the fic has a very much happy ending (and that next chapter you will loathe Xander even more. Yes, it is possible.)  
> Please, I'd love to know your opinion so leave comments and kudos, yeah?  
> Love you and see you in next chapter!  
> By the way, I have another fics you can read and you can find me on twitter! I'm @RopeAndAnchorLS


	6. A Spot of Light in the Middle of the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is! Chapter six! Which means the fic will end next chapter. I can't believe it is already coming to an end. This one also has more than just one POV. I'm so excited about this chapter because it is one of the first ones I wrote and well, I put a lot of passion in it.  
> Like always, [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is the photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University.  
> Thanks again to my lovely beta Liz aka @Dont_Stop_Larry who edits my story chapter by chapter, doing an amazing and wonderful job.  
> By the way, you will hate Xander very much so this chapter.
> 
>  **TRIGGER WARNING:**  This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence. If you feel triggered by physical violence, you can skip until Louis' second POV.

**Louis' POV**

It’s fucking freezing, but Louis is outside on the football pitch anyway, because he needs to calm down, he needs to get all the shit out of his system. The sky is overcast with dark clouds, and Louis knows it could rain at any moment, but honestly, the cold and the possible rain are the last of his worries at the moment. Louis grunts and kicks the ball as hard as he can towards the net. Tears are burning in his eyes, his head is pounding, and even though he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, his body feels hot and he feels slightly sick. He exhales, breath visible in the cold air, and kicks the other ball even harder than the last one, but he doesn’t score. He walks forward to fetch the first ball, sighing, and when he stands up, the edge of the net is right in front of him. He punches it, hard.

“Fuck!” he shouts, grabbing his hand, because it fucking hurts. Louis always sucked at dealing with anger, and right now he is furious, pissed off, but beyond all that he is heart-broken. He’s almost sure no physical pain he could inflict on himself could hurt more than that. No physical pain even compares to the sorrow he feels in his chest at this moment. Call him extra, call him pathetic, but he really feels like the weight of the sky is on his chest. Having Xander tell him that he fucked Harry was one thing…But having actually witnessed them kissing was another very different one. He wishes more than anything that he could erase that image from his mind. Ignorance is a bliss, they say, and he wishes he could just forget, fall out of love with Harry, but he can’t. He tried so many times, and it’s just impossible. And he hates himself. He hates himself for letting himself think he had a chance with Harry. As if someone as wonderful as Harry would never fall for someone like him. But he doesn’t want to stop talking to him. Because yes, he is in love with him, but Harry is also his best friend and he needs him in his life, even if it is as just friends.

He continues kicking the ball, just trying to get all his anger and frustration out, trying to drown his pain and tears in the rush he gets when he plays footie, and the angrier and more upset he gets, the harder he runs and kicks, racing back and forth on the field like he’s actually playing a game. He starts running out of air, but he continues anyway. He won’t stop until he’s completely calmed down, until he can think properly.

He turns his head around when he hears a voice calling his name. Xander is there with two friends of his, as tall and big as he is. He doesn’t know their names, but he has seen them before. One of them is the blonde dude who almost broke his wrist in that game last week.  It strikes Louis that, besides the people on his team, most of which don’t even like him, not one of Xander’s friends even go to Manchester University, so why the fuck are they there? He swallows, looking at them: he doesn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Do you think you’re funny,?” Xander asks, almost growling.

“What are you talking about, Ritz?” Louis sighs, too tired to have this conversation. He just wants to be left alone with his pain.

“Don’t play smart with me, Tomlinson. What the fuck was that show you pulled back there?! Singing shitty, heart-breaking songs to my boy.” Xander walks right up to him, crowding his space.

“They were just songs, Xander,” Louis replies. He tries to walk away, but Xander stops him, grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie.

“Don’t ever talk to Harry again, or I will fucking end you, do you hear me? If I see you anywhere near him, I’ll break your face.”

“Well, he is my best friend, _mate_. So I’m afraid I will have to say no to that.”

“Listen to me, you ugly rat, Harry is mine, don’t you get it? He is my property. Mine!” he shouts, and if Louis thought he couldn’t hate that douchebag even more, he was just proven wrong.

“Funny” Louis replies coldly, leaning his head back as best he could, with Xander’s grip still tight on his hoodie. “Last time I checked people were not someone else’s property. You don’t own Harry. Nobody does, because he is a fucking person,” he spits.

Xander lets Louis go and chuckles before winding up his fist and punching Louis squarely in the face. Louis is on the ground before he registers the pain, and he struggles back to his feet, his hand over his mouth, which his bleeding.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” he shouts. His lower lip feels like it’s on fire, and he can feel it swelling already, blood running in a sluggish line down his chin. Before he can do anything, the two guys who are with Xander grab him, yanking his arms behind his back so he can’t move or try to defend himself. Louis tries to shake himself free, but the guys are much bigger than he is and are holding him too tightly.

“Oh, are you a chicken, Tomlinson? Can’t take a few hits here and there?”

“Oh, that’s fucking rich of you! Three against one!”

Xander smirks, raising his eyebrows. He rests one hand on Louis’ shoulder and looks at him, the smug expression plastered on his face.

“Didn’t you hear me the first time, Tomlinson? Harry hates you, mate. He’s never met anyone more useless and clingy. I thought you may have understood me the first time, but it turns out you’re a bit hard of hearing.” He sees it coming before it happens, but he can do nothing to stop the punch sinking into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and making him breathless. He feels his head go fuzzy and he can feel the pain spreading throughout his body from lack of air, but he refuses to squirm, instead looking directly up at Xander’s ugly face.

“If he thinks I’m pathetic,” Louis manages to let out in a gasp with the little air he has recovered, “Why are you punching me? After all, I’m not a threat, am I?”

Xander face reddens, and Louis assumes it’s in anger. He can tell it because of the way his face flickers and because of the way he swallows, his jaw clenched tightly. Xander spits at him. Louis knows he’s being humiliated, and that knowledge of knowing and not being able to do anything hurts more than the punches landing on his body from every angle. He tries to move again, but the two gorillas won’t let him. They hold him even tighter. Xander brushes the tips of his fingers through his short hair, and next thing he can feel is Xander hitting his face, knuckles slamming with strength against his left cheekbone, and the punch comes again, between eyebrows, right on the bridge of his nose.

Louis registers the pain at probably half of what it should be, considering the adrenaline left over from his footie match with himself, but it still fucking hurts. But he doesn’t scream. He doesn’t make a single noise. He wants to, but he manages to swallow the screams, because he refuses to give Xander the satisfaction. He will stand strong, even if every muscle in his body is begging him to cry out for help. Tears slip down his cheeks, one of them streaming right where the bruise is, and it burns over the split skin. He swallows hard.

Xander throws a few more well placed punches, hitting him on his arm, and another one, this time at his ribs.

“Oh, are you crying, Tomlinson?” Xander mocks him, smirking. Louis doesn’t answer. “Are you going to stop talking to him?” he asks again, grabbing Louis’ hair and pulling hard.

“Not until he asks me too,” he replies, his voice cracking.  Xander laughs, punches him again and throws him at the ground to kick him, the other two joining in now that they aren’t holding Louis. Louis curls himself into ball, trying to protect every part of him that he can. He wants it to stop, he just wants it to end.

Xander’s friends laugh too.

“Oh, he’s a quiet one!” one of the two dudes say, resting on of his feet on Louis’ chest, as if Louis was just an annoying bug that he was going to crush.

“Let’s see how he does with a lasting injury…nothing is gonna get in my way this time,” the blonde dude snarls, and his foot comes crashing down onto Louis’ knee. This time, Louis does scream, pain racing up his body as he feels his knee crack under the strain.

Louis is afraid now, fucking terrified, and he protects his head with his arms as he sees Xander’s foot aiming at his face.

* * *

**Liam, Zayn and Shawn's POV**

Shawn is walking next to Liam and Zayn through the grounds. They are a little bit tipsy and giggling at a joke Liam has just told. Zayn takes a drag of the cigarette he’s smoking and exhales the smoke, before kissing Liam on the lips.They can hear thunder in the distance and they laugh at it, even though a storm isn’t really that funny.

Suddenly Shawn stops, hearing two raised voices coming from the direction of the football field. It sounds like a fight, and he throws his arms out to stop Liam and Zayn, who stumble into each other.

“Why are you punching me? After all, I’m not a threat, am I?” They hear someone say with a weak voice, and the voice sounds familiar, so familiar. The reality hits them like truck.

“Is that…is that Louis?!” Zayn asks, alarmed. He doesn’t feel remotely drunk anymore. He has a really bad feeling about this, and Louis isn’t the kind of man to get into physical fights.

Liam turns his head quickly, trying to see where exactly they are, his heart hammering.

“There! On the pitch!” Shawn screams, the entire pitch suddenly coming into view as they round a group of cars. “They’re beating him up!”

Zayn throws his cigarette to the ground only half smoked, and takes off towards the field, Liam and Shawn following him. When they reach the field, the whole ugly scene is laid out before them: Louis is there on the ground, and one of the three guys there steps on his knee. An inhuman sound is torn from Louis’ throat, and Xander is about to kick his face, but before he can do that, Liam runs forward, dragging Xander away from Louis.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he yells, grabbing him by the front of his t-shirt. Xander tries to headbut Liam, but Liam dodges it and punches him. “I’m going to fucking kill you! What have you done to Louis?”

The dude who injured Louis in the match is about to come at Liam, but Shawn steps in and tackles him, throwing him to the ground. Shawn might not be as big as he is, but he is strong, so he doesn’t take too much to hold the other guy still on the ground. “Move and I’ll end you, dickhead!”

The dude spins to trap Shawn against the floor, but Shawn reacts by spinning him again and pinning him flat on his stomach, twisting his arm behind his back.

“Let me go!” the guy yells, his voice muffled against the grass.

“No,” Shawn replies, pinning him even harder.

Zayn is little too, but punches the third guy straight in the face nonetheless.

“Leave now before we fucking kill you all!” Zayn shouts at them.

Suddenly, they can hear the voice of a man shouting at them.

“Oi! Oi! What the fuck is happening here?!” A man in tight pants and a tie is striding towards them across the field…Nick Grimshaw, a professor.

“Mr. Grimshaw,” Liam freezes, letting go of Xander. Sawn stands up quickly and gulps. They are fucked, and it’s not like Nick is Louis’ biggest fan.

“Well it’s pretty obvious that they attacked us for no reason!” Xander says, dusting himself off.

“Yeah, we were just here doing our own business when they came at us,” the one who had just been on the ground says. Shawn glares at him.

“That’s a lie. They were attacking Louis, sir!” Shawn says angrily, “So we stopped them!”

Nick quirks an eyebrow at them but his face goes deadly white when Sawn points at Louis, curled up in a ball on the grass and not moving, his leg bent at a bit of a strange angle.

“Did you guys do this?” Nick shouts at Xander and his friends, sounding absolutely livid.

* * *

**Louis' POV**

The kick to Louis’ face never came. It took him several moments before he realized that there were more people, people he knew…Shawn, Zayn, and Liam, by the sound of it. He doesn’t have the strength to move, not even to lift his head. He feels tears slide down his already wet cheeks, the pain becoming more obvious with every second. Every bone in his body hurts and he is praying nothing is broken, but his leg hurts at even the slightest movement. He doesn’t know how much time goes by, but he can hear Nick Grimshaw arriving between screams and fists on flesh. Xander tries to lie his way out of it, but Shawn yells, interrupting and trying to tell their side. There is no way of proving the truth, though. There is no way of proving it was Xander who started the fight, and he doesn’t think Nick will care, anyway.

“Did you guys do this?!” Nick shouts and Louis can’t see who is he screaming at, but he is hopeless. He just wants to pass out.

“He tried to hit me, so I defended myself! Like I said, they started the fight,” Xander shouts back.

“Oh, so you needed two other guys to beat him down, right, and leave him in the state he’s in right now?” Woah, is Nick defending him? He must be hallucinating, this must be a product of his indescribable pain.

He suddenly feels a hand on his arm and he shudders in fear, curling in on himself even more.

“Louis. Louis it’s me, Mr. Grimshaw,” he says. “Louis, I need you to stand up so we can take you to the infirmary and make sure nothing is broken, can you do that for me?.” Louis buries his face in his hands, shaking his head and sobbing as pain radiates through his body. “Louis, it’s okay, I’ve got this. You won’t get into any trouble, I know you didn’t do anything wrong, okay? But I need you to stand up so we make sure you’re alright,” he says, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Louis swallows and nods slowly, sniffling and trying to collect himself. Nick helps him sit up, which doesn’t feel too terrible, but once Louis is on his feet, he feels it all returning to him, all of the pain, all of the humiliation.  Louis’ face crunches in pain and he wraps his arm around his middle, feeling sick. He tries to breathe and takes one shaky step forward, leaning heavily on Nick.

“Easy,” he whispers. “That’s right, easy. Your room is before the infirmary, right?” he asks and Louis nods, moaning deep in his throat as more tears leak onto his cheeks. “Okay, so you two,” he points at Zayn and Liam, “are going to take Louis to his roommate so he can take him to the infirmary and make sure someone is with him there before you go to the head teacher’s office. And you four,” he points at Xander, the two unknown men, and Shawn, “are going to come with me to the head teacher now.”

“But we didn’t do anything wrong!” Zayn complains. “They could have seriously injured Louis if we hadn’t stopped them. They had him on the ground, sir.”

“I know, Zayn. But I need you to explain to the head teacher what just happened. You’re witnesses of it.”

“So, we’re not in trouble either?” Shawn asks.

“I don’t think you are, no…I can’t promise anything, but since it was to defend Louis here, they can’t really punish you,” Nick explains and Shawn nods.

“You can’t take us there, Grimshaw, we don’t even go here!” the dude who played against Louis in the match says.

“Well, Mr. Twain,” Nick smirks, and Louis is confused because he didn’t think Nick would know his last name, “you happened to hit one of our students on our grounds. So even if you don’t come here, you’re responsible for what happened as much as Ritz and your friend are.” Twain stares at him, and his whole face twists in anger.

“Let’s go, Tommo” Liam whispers, reaching for Louis, and Nick transfers Louis’ weight to Liam. He stands at one of his sides and Zayn stands at the other one, and they make him wrap his arms around their necks so they can help him walk.

They go slowly through the grounds until they enter the building, and thankfully, Niall is in the common room on the bottom floor, laying back on the couch and watching TV. Zayn clears his throat and Niall turns, freezing when he sees them.

“What the fuck happened?!  Who did this to you, Louis?!” Niall yells, concern lacing his voice as he hurries over, holding Louis’ face gently, but Louis flinches away.

“Xander and his minions did,” Zayn replies.

“What the fuck? Louis, tell us right now what happened.”

Louis can feel the tears still streaming down his face. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out, and his breath hitches as he tries again. Still nothing.

“Tommo, it’s okay. Please tell us what happened, if you can,” Liam begs.

Louis nods and, with trembling voice, tells them how Xander cornered him with his friends, the beating up, and being rescued by Zayn, Shawn, and Liam. He’s not sure if the story really comes out right, because his sentences aren’t complete the pain in his ribs making it hard to breathe or talk. But Niall seems to understand, because his face turns red with anger, even though his touch was still light.

“Niall, right now we need you to take Tommo to the infirmary…Zayn and I have to go and explain everything that happened to the head teacher now.”

“Okay. Yes, of course I’ll take him.”

“Thanks, man,” Zayn says, and Liam and Zayn disappear. Louis leans on Niall, exhausted, and Niall supports his full weight, being as gentle as he can.

“Let’s go, Tommo,” Niall says, and Louis just nods.

* * *

Louis is lying on one of the beds in the infirmary, vertical rest back, with Niall and the doctor, Carl, next to him. Carl has just finished checking him over, and luckily nothing is broken. His knee is sprained, and he’ll have to stay off it for a few weeks before he can start playing footie again, but other than that, he’s fine, which is a relief. But that knowledge doesn’t stop his body from aching, and it doesn’t stop him from feeling emotionally shitty. The doctor didn’t ask him much about what happened. He just checked him out, cleaned his injuries and gave him some pain killers and ice to lower the swelling in his face. He has looked himself at a small mirror mirror Carl gave him, and although his face is not really swollen, he has a red bruise and a cut under his eye, one on his cheekbone, one on the bridge of his nose, and another on his lower lip. Louis sniffs, more because of the humiliation he is feeling right now than anything else. Niall hasn't talked much yet, probably because nothing pretty won’t come out of his mouth if he opens it. He is that kinda man that starts ranting and cursing when being pissed off, and right now Louis can tell that he is beyond furious. He has seen him angry before, but never like this. Carl tells Louis to stay there some hours until his body feels better before he goes to attend another student who has been throwing up all night, and Louis has no choice but to obey.

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary opens and Harry comes hurrying into the room, spotting Louis at once.

“Lou, what the fuck happened?” he asks, alarmed and worried.

“Haz, what are you you doing here?” he mumbles. He’s glad Harry’s here, because the one person he wants to hold him is Harry, but then all the things Xander said about Harry come racing back to his mind, and he feels sick again.

“Niall just texted me and said you were here because Xander beat you up,” Harry replies, and Louis looks over at Niall in annoyance. He doesn’t need a babysitter.

“Of course I fucking texted him, mate, so don’t look at me like that! Look at the way he left you!” Niall replies. “I’m not going to apologize for letting Harry know!”

Louis purses his lips and looks down at his blankets again. He doesn’t want to look at Harry. He doesn’t want Harry to see him this way, with his face covered in cuts and bruises. Harry approaches him slowly and sits next to him, resting a hand gently on his knee. Louis’ bottom lip trembles; Harry is being so gentle with him, and it’s making his chest hurt even more than it had been before Harry had shown up.

“Lou…” Harry whispers. Louis doesn’t look up, trying to keep his tears at bay. “Lou, please, look at me,” Harry begs but Louis shakes his head, sniffing. “Hey.” he says, his voice soft, “It’s okay. Please let me look at you.” Harry carefully puts two fingers under Louis’ chin and lifts his face up gently. Louis closes his eyes and breathes, swallowing the knot he has in his throat. When he opens them, tears stream down his face. Harry is staring at him with sadness and sorrow etched into every inch of his face. He brushes his thumbs over Louis’ face really softly to sweep away his tears, as if he was afraid to break him. “Did Xander do this to you?” he asks him in trembling voice. Louis can tell he’s trying not to cry. He knows the way Harry looks when he does that. He nods slowly, and when he does, Harry clenches his jaw, so he looks down again, not wanting to meet his gaze. “How?” he asks almost in a gasp, but Louis doesn’t answer.

“Louis, for fuck’s sake, if you don’t tell him what happened,I will!” Niall bursts out. Louis shoots at him a look of desperation, begging him not to talk, but Niall ignores him and starts rambling. “The fucking asshole...Xander beat the shit out of Louis because he is jealous of the friendship he has with you. Apparently he thinks he owns you, literally speaking, because that is what he said, and when Louis told him you were not one’s property and that the only way he’d stop hanging out with you is if you asked him to, he just started hitting and kicking him.” He breathes deeply before going on with his rant.“Oh! Wanna hear the best part? He wasn’t alone, he was with two other dumbass friends, so Louis had no fucking chance to do anything, and they only stopped because Liam, Zayn and Shawn stepped in, and Mr. Grimshaw arrived just in time.”

Louis looks up at Niall quickly, fearing the worst. Harry can’t find out that he loves him, he just can’t. It will ruin everything.

“What?” Harry gasps.

“And not only that, but Xander has been bragging about the non-existent sex life he has with you in front of Louis, Zayn, and Liam.” Niall finishes, breathing heavily in his anger. Okay, Louis thinks, he skipped the love part. Bless him.

“What are you talking about? What sex life?” Harry says, sounding completely confused, and Louis turns his gaze to Harry, his eyebrows crunching together.

“He told them you and him had sex on daily basis. He said that you really didn’t give him classes, but that you were sneaking around to fuck in random places, and he was really explicit and nasty about it. I wasn’t there, but Zayn and Liam confirmed to me that he did say those things.” Niall replies.

“That’s not true,” Harry says, shaking his head. He sighs and grabs the package of ice Louis is holding in his hand to place it softly on his cheekbone. Louis looks at him through his eyelashes. “Me and Xander…we never did anything,” he whispers. “I mean, he tried to kiss me tonight, but I said no. I never liked him that way.”

Suddenly, Louis can feel the sorrow that was making his chest ache dissipate, and he feels twenty pounds lighter. Harry doesn’t love Xander, he doesn’t even like him…it was all a lie, all fabricated by Xander. Harry waits a moment before speaking up again. “Fuck, I hate him now that I know what he has done to you.” His eyes are glassy, and Louis can see that he’s trying very hard not to cry. He needs Harry not to cry, or he’s going to start crying again. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. I’m such an idiot. And you guys tried to tell me and I just-”

“It’s not your fault Xander is a dumbass, Harry. You are just too good to see the evil in people, and it just blinded you to his true nature as a dick,” Louis replies softly, looking at him.

“Yeah, but you all tried to warn me and I didn’t listen.” he huffs, before turning to Louis again, his green eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Thanks for defending me. You’re an amazing friend.” And suddenly it’s back, the words Xander had literally beat into him tonight, and he flinches.

“What? What else did he say to you?” Harry asks, moving the ice away from his face to see him properly. Louis forgot how amazing he was in reading expressions, especially his. Was he that obvious? He probably was.

“Nothing,” he lies. “He didn’t tell me anything else.”

“Just fucking tell him, Louis! For fuck’s sake,” Niall says, almost shouting.

Harry looks at him and speaks softly, just for him, like he did when he wanted to see his face. “Lou…”

Louis sighs. He can not resist when Harry calls him that. He really can’t. “He told me…he told me that you think I’m lame and pathetic, and that you only hang around me because you feel sorry for me.”

Harry’s expression changes all of a sudden. He doesn’t look sad anymore, but really, really pissed and fucking angry. And Louis is positive that he’s never seen Harry this angry.

“He said what?!” Harry is almost yelling now, his hands shaking. Carl asks him from the other corner to lower his voice, so Harry does that, but the tone of his voice doesn’t change. “Lou, you know that is a lie, right?!” he demands, staring at him intensely, and Louis nods. “No, Lou, I mean it. There is not a true word in what he said. Not a single fucking one. I would never think those things about you. Not ever. Fuck, I think you’re one of the most amazing and incredible people I have ever met!” Louis looks at his lap again, unable to look at the sadness and disappointment in Harry’s eyes. “Lou…look at me: I hang out with you because of that. Because I have the most amazing time with you, not because any of the things Xander said. I don’t feel sorry for you and I certainly not think you’re lame or pathetic. Those are all lies he just made up because he is jealous that he will never be as amazing as you are. ” Louis breathes. Harry’s words are like a caress to his heart and soul, and he wants to cry, but this time because he is emotional. This time it’s happy tears. “You’re my best friend.” Harry whispers.

“You’re my best friend too, Haz,” he smiles slightly and Harry smiles back at him, even though the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, even though there is no dimple, probably because he is just so sad and angry at what happened.

“Well, I’m glad now everyone knows what kind of person Ritz really is,” Niall sighs, sitting next to Louis on the bed. He scratches the back of his neck and yawns. “He is really gross and disgusting, and I hope he gets the punishment he deserves.”

“I hope that too,” Harry agrees.

They sit there for a few minutes in silence, not having really anything to say, and then Zayn, Liam, and Shawn enter through the door. They all look exhausted, and Liam has a bruise on his forehead, but otherwise they seem to be ok.

“Are you alright, Lou?” Liam asks, throwing a worried look at him.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Have no major injuries…I just won’t able able to play footie for a few weeks, so you will have to be the captain, Liam.”

“Let’s not worry about that now, yeah?” his friend replies. “Football is not the important thing right now. And the coach will understand.” Louis nods in response, but he still feels bad that he had to sustain such an injury so close to the end of the season.

“So, what happened? Did you get in any trouble? What about Xander?” Niall asks quickly, and the three boys turn to face Niall.

“Xander was expelled. And the two other guys couldn’t be expelled because they don’t go here, but they informed their universities what they did, so I guess it’s up to them,” Zayn explains. “They are not welcome here anymore, though. That blonde guy is a dick.”

“And what about you?” Louis asks. “You didn’t get in any trouble for defending me, right?”

“No, not really,” Zayn says.

Louis raises his eyebrows, because what the fuck does that even mean? “What do you mean, not really?”

“We were warned and stuff, but since Mr. Grimshaw was there to testify that the only reason we did that was to prevent them from killing Louis where he lay, we are not expelled or anything like that,” Shawn explains, drumming his fingers against the rail of the bed. “They told us that the next time this happens, if it happens, we should go directly to someone responsible, yadda, yadda. Which is really stupid, if you ask me, because if we have done that today, they would have beaten up Louis even more than they already had. Grimshaw told us he would have done the same after we left the office, though.” He shrugs. “Oh, Harry, I’m not going to sleep in our room tonight. I promised Katy that I was going to spend the night with her, is that okay?.”

“Yeah, fine by me,” Harry replies. “Where is Xander now?”

“Why are you asking?” Liam quirks his eyebrows at him.

“Just answer my fucking question, Liam,” Harry replies, impatiently, and okay, Louis has never seen him annoyed like that.

“Well, they just sent him to pack his stuff, so I’m guessing he is in his room now.”

Harry stands up quickly.

“Where are you going?” Zayn asks.

“Where do you think I’m going?”

“You’re not going to talk to him, are you?” Zayn asks again.

“The fuck I am!” Harry growls.

“Harry, he’s not worth it,” Louis shakes his head. “You’ll get into trouble.”

“I don’t care, Lou. He beat you and told you horrible lies, and I’m not just going to let understand?” And before Louis can say anything else, Harry is already leaving.

* * *

**Harry's POV**

Harry walks fast across campus and to Xander’s building. He knows where Xander room is because once he made him go with him there to fetch some notes he needed to use for the support class Harry was about to give him. Anger is coursing through his veins, making him feel hot. He can’t remember the last he has been this angry. He can’t remember the last time he was so fucking furious that he actually wanted to punch everything he saw.He is fucking pissed at Xander, but he is also pissed at himself for not realizing that Niall and Louis were right, that Xander didn’t actually need classes, but really wanted to get into his pants the whole time. Why was he so naive? Why does he have to see always the better in people? Louis says that’s because he is a good person, but the truth is that he feels really dumb at the moment, not good. He feels like he’s failed Louis, he feels like if he’s failed his best friend and he hates that. So, yeah, of course he is going to talk with that fucking douchebag and clear things up. If Liam got to punch him, Harry deserves to at least say what he’s feeling, and maybe throw a punch himself. He takes three more steps until he is finally standing in front of Xander’s room. He lifts up his hand and knocks at the door three times, practically slamming his fist into it. When nobody opens, he bangs his fist against the door, pounding on it. Finally, Xander opens it, smiling at him when he sees that it’s Harry.

“Harry, what a surprise, what are you doing here?” he says, his usual smirk on his face.

“Why do you have a bruise on your forehead, Xander?” he asks coldly, and suddenly, Xander’s smile falls, as if he knew in that moment why Harry had come.

“I had a fight. Someone tried to rob me, so it got physical, you know? They hit me, but nothing major, and they didn’t manage to steal my phone and wallet, so that’s good,” he shrugs his shoulders. They can hear a thunder, followed by the sound of the rain falling heavily onto the roof of the building. Xander turns his head to look through the window of his room and then looks back at Harry, raising one eyebrow flirtatiously. “Wanna come in?”

“You’re such a fucking liar, Xander.” Harry says angrily. “I know what happened, I know all of it.” Harry’s nostrils are flaring in his anger.

“Oh yeah? And what do you know?” Xander says back, trying to sound off hand, but Harry isn’t having it.

“I know that you and two of your friends beat the fuck out of my best friend. I know you hit him and kicked him so bad he is at the infirmary now with bruises all over his face and body. I know that the only reason you didn’t keep on beating him up was because Liam, Zayn, and Shawn fucking stopped you, I know you lied to him and made him believe horrible stuff that isn’t true, and I know you said we had sex.

“Are you really going to believe all that, Harry? Is that the kind of person you think I am?” Xander gasps, putting a sad face on, and Harry gets even more pissed than he already is, because no, Xander can’t just pull that shit, he can’t play the victim card with him when he is the offender.

“You know what? Yes I do.”

“Louis invented all this shit because he is in love with you, Harry. He is jealous that we get to spend so much time together, so he made it all up because he also knows you’re into me!” Wow. Xander really has no boundaries at all, and Harry can’t believe he didn’t notice this before.

“You’re so full of fucking shit! Stop lying! There are fucking witnesses, you fucking idiot!” he shouts, not really caring if his screams wake up the people on the floor. “And the truth is, I don’t even care you lied about fucking me or whatever you said happened between the two of us! I don’t care that you claimed ownership of me or some shit. I care about the fact that you hurt my best friend, I care about the fact that Louis is in the infirmary right now because of you, you fucking prick, because you beat him up like if he was some fucking punching bag!” Harry can feel tears on his face now, but he is crying out of anger and frustration, not because he is sad, and those tears are worse for him. “And I’m a dumbass because I didn’t realize the fucking piece of human garbage you are. Niall and Louis warned me that you you really didn’t want classes and I didn’t believe them. But that doesn't matter, not anymore. You’re going to pay for what you did to Louis and I’m glad they kicked your ass out of this place.”

Xander doesn’t reply for a moment. He just smirks and leans himself against the doorframe, looking at him with a derogatory look. He chuckles, raising his eyebrows cockily and huffs. “Well, at least now I can stop pretending that I like that dumbass in front of you, and I can stop pretending I actually care about all those stupid things you are always talking about with bright eyes. C’mon, Harry, did you really think I needed classes from _you?_ I have a fucking major in history and you’re not as smart as you think you are. Why would I need help with a subject I don’t even care about? The only things that I actually wanted from you were for you to suck my dick and to get into your pants, but you’re so fucking oblivious, you never realized anything. Are you a prude, Harry? I’m beginning to think you are. I’ll tell you this. How about we skip this fake banter and you let me fuck you now? You know deep inside you want me to, and you know that is reason why Louis is so jealous of me. Because he knows how bad you want me. I can suck your cock if you want. I’m really good at it. And then you can suck mine and swallow all I have for you,” he says, winking his eye.

“You’re fucking crazy.” Harry gulps, feeling slightly sick. “I’d rather dig my eyeballs out of my skull with a rusty spoon than even think about letting you touch me,” he spits. He is doing his best not to hit him, but if Xander continues like this, he won’t be able to hold back much longer.

“And you’re fucking blind, Styles. I mean, not only you couldn’t notice that all this time, I was trying to get was my cock up inside your ass, but you also fail to realize that Louis is fucking in love with you.” Harry gasps and Xander rises his eyebrows. “Oh, so I’m right. You actually don’t know how gone he is for you. C’mon, Harry, today he practically dedicated two songs to you!” he laughs.

“Stop lying!” he screams. Because no, Louis is not in love with him, and he most definitely hadn’t been singing to him. Harry had been singing to Louis, of course, but Louis singing for him? No, Louis only likes him as a friend. He would have done something before if he felt anything more than just the bond of friends. He would have dated him, and the reason he never did anything is because Louis loves him, but as a friend, and he would have said no if he had asked him to date, if he had tried to kiss him.

“Oh, but I’m not lying, _babe_. Louis is in love with you and I think that by now, you’re probably the only person in the entire university who hasn’t noticed. Everyone knows: Malik, Payne, Mendes…even Edwards and her girlfriend, whatever her name is. So you broke him too, Harry. How does it feel?” he smiles obnoxiously, very pleased with himself. “How does it feel knowing that you’re coming at me for hurting your best friend, when you hurt him first with your blindness and stupidity? But you know what? I think that what you did is even worse, because you broke his heart, Harry. I broke his body, but you broke his heart. You did that, and now you’ll have to live with it.” he goes on and Harry just wishes he would stop talking.

“Stop,” he says, but Xander pretends he didn’t hear.

“I’m sure that he cried a lot when he thought I fucked you. I could see it on his face, the way it flickered in pain when I told him that. It was so worthwhile. Did I mention I also tried to kiss you in front of him on purpose? And all of this could have been avoided if you had realized your friend is pathetically in love with you. Tsk, tsk.”

Xander grins smugly, shaking his head with sarcasm. Harry swallows, not really knowing what to say. Is that true? Is Louis really in love with him, or is Xander playing with him right now to take the piss out of him?

“Maybe you deserve each other after all. I mean, I thought you were smart, but now I can tell you’re not. You’re pathetic and stupid, so you deserve someone just as pathetic and stupid as yourself, and Louis is the perfect candidate.”

Anger takes hold of Harry again, but he forces it down. He closes his fist to control himself and takes a step forward, facing him. Xander is a little bit taller than he is, but he is not intimated. “Don’t you ever talk about Louis that way. Ever. Do you hear me? Or you’ll regret it.”

Xander laughs. “Are you threatening me, Harry? What? Can’t you handle the truth? I mean, you both are lame, that’s a fact. Although, Louis is even dumber and lamer than you are, I’ll give you that. In fact, I think he might be the stupidest and most pathetic person I have ever come across in my life, and that’s saying a lot. Not to mention he looks like a rat.” He laughs. “I mean, at least you have a pretty face, but Louis…”

That’s it. Harry loses it. He lifts up his fist and punches Xander straight on the face, fist slamming against his nose. It’s the first time he actually hit someone like that, but he couldn’t take it anymore, not when he was saying all those horrible and untrue things about Louis. He would not stand still like an idiot while that fucking douchebag was speaking about his best friend that way.

“What the fuck?” Xander screams, his hands clamped over his nose, which is already bleeding.

“You’re not even half the man Louis is, and you will never be. Louis is one of the most amazing human beings on this planet, and I’m the luckiest person to have him as my friend. But you? You’re a major asshole and you’re the pathetic one, Xander. I actually feel sorry for you, because you have no friends. You don’t even have someone who really loves you. Do you think the two cowards who helped you beat up Louis really care about you?” Harry feels the words leave him, not completely sure of where his rambling will take him, but talking keeps him from hurting Xander further. “Don’t you ever come near me, Louis, or any of my friends ever again, because I’ll fucking end you, and I mean it. I’m a man of my word.”

Before Xander can say anything, before he can reply, Harry turns on his heel and stalks out of the room, not wanting to be near him a second longer.

He knows that what he just did may get him expelled, but he hopes Xander won’t say anything. He actually thinks it’s better for him to stay quiet because speaking up would mean admitting Harry just hit him straight in the face, and getting beat up by two different men in the same night is nothing to be proud of. But if he does say something, if Xander does go to the head teacher and tells him what happened, he will figure out what to do.

He doesn’t regret having punched him. Harry doesn’t condone violence; He is that kind of person that thinks that it doesn’t lead anywhere, that it doesn’t fix things. He is usually the one saying that violence only leads to more violence, so the best thing is to avoid it. But every rule has it exception, he guesses, and Xander did deserve that punch. His blood is still boiling with all those nasty things he said about Louis, and he can’t help thinking about how Louis might have felt when Xander said all those things to him.

He goes back to the infirmary, but the boys and Louis have all disappeared, so he goes to Louis and Niall’s room. He knocks on the door and waits until Niall opens it.

“Ni, where’s Louis?”

“He is outside. Told me he needed some air.”

“What the fuck?! With this rain?! And you let him go outside after what happened to him?! How is he even walking?”

“Yes, with this rain. He is a grown man, Harry, I can’t tell him what to do. And I actually think rain will be good for him.”

He sighs, brushing his hand over his eyes. “Fuck.”

“Are you going to look for him?” he asks and Harry nods. “Okay, good luck, then, Harry. I’m sure everything will be fine,” he smiles. “Take care of him, will you? He is a great person, he deserves nothing but the best..”

“Thanks, Ni. And yes, of course I’ll take care of him.” Harry smiles back and  Niall nods his head, closing the door. Harry turns to head outside, to find Louis.  He has to talk to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Did you like the chapter? Do you hate Xander as much as I do? I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave your comments and kudos!  
> See you in the next and final chapter, which I promise it has a ver much happy ending.  
> Also, if you want, you can read my other fics and you can follow me on twitter, I'm @RopeAndAnchorLS.


	7. A Love Beyond Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, I can't believe this fic finally got to and end. Like I said in the first chapter, this story was born in 2015 and I decided to wrote it this year, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  
> Liz, thanks a lot. Thanks for editing my story chapter by chapter and for all the commnets you did, both the constructive and cheerful ones. "Dancing In The Rain" wouldn't be the same without you. I love you and working with you has been an inmense pleasure.  
> Thanks to all the people who read this and commented chapter by chapter.  
> Thanks to Romi and my Argentinean Squad that read bits as I wrote the story and gave my their opinion.  
> It's been a pleasure, really.  
> See ya in another story!  
> Like I did in all the chapters, [here](http://theropeandtheanchor.tumblr.com/post/161155042790/this-is-for-my-fic-dancing-in-the-rain-the) is the photo of the 2013-14 academic year of Manchester University.  
>  **WARNING:**  This chapter has smut...I can't forbid you of doing anything but I feel that I have the responsabilty of telling you to be careful if you are under 18.

**Harry and Louis' POV**

Harry goes straight outside, wandering the paths of campus. It’s raining so hard, it’s like the sky is dumping buckets of water down on him, and the lightning lights everything up in an eerie purple color every time it flashes. He walks through the gardens, trying to find Louis, calling out loud his name. Finally, after a few minutes, he finds him, conveniently in the spot where they first met, sitting on the stone bench, staring at nothing in particular, and he’s crying. It’s hard to tell with all the rain, but as Harry moves closer, he can see Louis’ shoulders shaking. How he had even gotten outside on his bad leg was beyond Harry, but Harry is just glad he’s found him. As he moves closer, Louis doesn’t look up, so he clears his throat.

“Louis,” he says, and when he hears his voice, Louis stands up quickly, wincing as he puts too much weight on his leg. There are raindrops hanging from his eyelashes and running in rivulets down his face, and Harry finds himself noticing, yet again, how beautiful they are, how they highlight the beautiful blue of his eyes.

“Haz,”  Louis gulps. And honestly, Louis can’t believe - or maybe he can, because Harry is always the same to him, how beautiful Harry looks, all soaking wet with those chocolate locks of his sticking to his forehead because of the rain, and with his pink, parted mouth looking prettier than ever. He wants to taste his lips so bad, but that won’t happen. He has to stop daydreaming.

“I punched Xander,” Harry says, simply. There is not a single trace of guilt in his voice.

“You didn’t have to do that, Haz.”

“Maybe not, but I wanted to. He was horrible and fucking gross to you and I just did it. I couldn’t take it, Lou, I just couldn’t take the fact that he hurt you like that. I would punch anyone who treated you like that.” Harry shrugs his shoulders and Louis nods, unable to think of anything to say. They stand there in silence for a few minutes, rain drops against the ground being the only sound that can be heard, and neither of them seem to care that they’re getting even more wet. Finally, Harry speaks again. “I didn’t sleep with Xander, Lou. I didn’t, I promise you. I didn’t.”

He knows he is repeating himself, but he _needs_ Louis to know that’s the truth, he needs him to know he would never ever sleep with someone like Ritz. He just wants to tell him that he doesn’t want to be with anybody but him.

“I know, Haz. You’ve already told me, I believe you,” Louis replies in a very soft way and Harry nods slowly, chewing his bottom lip.

“Xander told me you’re in love with me. Is it true? That you’re in love with me?” Harry asks slowly, and as soon as the words leave his mouth, he can see Louis’ face fall. Fuck. He didn’t have to ask that. Why did he open his fucking mouth? _Good fucking job, Harry. You really nailed it,_ he thinks.

Louis bites nervously his lips. “That’s it,” he mumbles to himself. Xander told him and now he knows. He swallows and nods very slowly. “Yes. Yes, it’s true.”

Well, he admitted it. No going back. Harry is going to be mad at him now, but at least he finally got rid of that weight on his shoulders. At least now he can stop pretending he is not head over heels for him.

“I thought he was lying,” is all Harry can say, feeling his heart beating faster and faster, hammering against his chest, threatening to break his ribcage and smash it into splinters.

Fuck, Harry is sad, Louis knows it. He can hear it in his voice, and it breaks his heart. He knows Harry will turn him down kindly, but it doesn’t stop him from hurting. He feels like an idiot for even having a little bit of hope. He feels, once again, his whole world coming undone, and the weight of the grief is crushing him. He will lose one of the people that means most to him in the world, but he can’t keep up lying. Harry deserves to know the truth.

“Well … Xander lied about many things. But he didn’t lie about this.” Louis laughs humorlessly, looking down, and the words burn in his throat. “I’ve been in love with you ever since we first met. I’m done pretending differently. And I know you don’t feel the same way, so please yell at me or hit me or do whate-”

But Louis doesn’t get to finish his sentence, for Harry is moving towards him swiftly, pressing his lips to Louis’ in a searing kiss.

Oh my fucking god. Harry is kissing him. Really, really kissing him, lips brushing gently against his and hands cradling his face, thumbs stroking the skin of his cheeks. He gasps against his lips and doesn’t waste time in wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck, fingers tangling in his curls. He opens his mouth when he feels Harry’s tongue against his lips and lets him lick inside, getting an overdose of him, Harry’s flavor exploding on his own tongue and sending an electric shock all over his body.

Harry can feel his brain short-circuiting because yes, he had pictured this in his mind a thousand times in a thousand different scenarios. Over and over again he had imagined how his first kiss with Louis would be, how it would feel, and it was everything he had ever dreamed it would be. All his fantasies, all the pictures and possibilities he made up in his mind don’t even compare to the overwhelming feeling of happiness that he is feeling right now as he kisses Louis. They don’t even compare, they don’t even do justice to how perfect Louis’ slightly chapped lips feel against his own.

“I’m so in love with you” he mumbles against Louis’ lips, not breaking up the kiss but pulling Louis into it deeper. “So fucking gone.”

Louis feels like he’s flying at Harry’s words. He feels actual butterflies fluttering in his stomach, so he smiles into the kiss and sucks Harry’s lower lip into his mouth, nipping at it lightly. He knows he’s putting too much weight on his bad leg, but he doesn’t even feel the pain. All he feels is Harry’s arms around him, Harry’s lips on his, _HarryHarryHarry_.

Harry bites his mouth softly and Louis hisses in sudden pain. Harry remembers that Louis has a busted lip because of Xander, and he’s suddenly very aware of just how much pain Louis must be in right now. He pulls back and slackens his grip on Louis, worried.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Lou,” he rushes to say, feeling guilty, as he lets him go. Why is he so stupid? How could he forget?

Louis doesn’t answer with words, he just pulls Harry back in by the back of his neck, kissing him again. He doesn’t want to stop kissing Harry, ever. Yeah, his lower lip might be a little bit sore, but fuck it, it’s worth the pain. He pulls himself as close to Harry as he can, molding himself to Harry’s body, and he whimpers slightly as Harry pulls him closer still, his kisses becoming hotter and wetter and more open mouthed. Louis hips are pressed tight against Harry’s thighs. They kiss each other without finesse, rain drops slipping through the inexestintent space between them, both of them exploring the other’s body with their hands as rain pounds down on them, dripping down their faces and getting into their mouths as they break apart for seconds to catch their breath.

“I have the room alone,” Harry says, slipping his mouth to Louis’ jaw to bite softly at it and slipping one hand to the small of his back, fingers spread open to cover as much of Louis as he can. Harry’s lips are on his again moments later, and Louis is already addicted to them. Harry’s mouth is his new favourite flavour.

“Okay, let’s go then,” Louis gasps these words against Harry’s pliant mouth; he wants to be out of the rain and alone with Harry, but he doesn’t want to stop kissing him.

The walk to Harry and Shawn’s room seems eternal, possibly due to the fact that Harry is practically carrying him because of his knee, but they finally make it. They hurry into the building soaking wet, getting a strange look from a few people, but they don’t care.

When they reach Harry’s room, Harry locks the door with fumbling fingers and rushes to push Louis against the door, kissing him desperately. But though his kisses are needy, Harry takes his time, wanting to memorize every part of Louis, the way his mouth turns up slightly at every press of his lips, the way his hands are fisting at Harry’s wet clothes, dripping more water onto the floor.

Louis lifts up his hands to play with Harry’s wet curls, tangling his fingers in the short curls at the nape of his neck. Harry slides his hands down Louis’ back until he’s grabbing him right under his ass, pulling a yelp out of Louis.

Louis breaks the kiss for a second to take his sweatshirt off, so Harry does the same thing, and suddenly they are both getting rid of their pants and shoes, between kisses, eventually finding themselves dressed only in their t-shirts and underwear. Louis knows he’s hard, and he can see that Harry is too, if the tenting of his boxers is anything to judge by.

Harry grabs Louis by the hips and spins him around, walking him carefully towards the bed until he feels Louis’ legs hit the mattress. He makes him lie on the mattress and he crawls over him, supporting his weight on his forearms because he doesn’t want to crush him. He stares at him, licking his lips, watching how dark Louis’ eyes grow, his pupils dilating and quickly reducing his irises to just a sliver of blue.

Louis slips his hands underneath Harry’s t-shirt, feeling the heat of his skin, tracing his fingers and nails over his belly without breaking eye-contact. Harry lifts himself up and peels the wet shirt off him, helping Louis get rid of his t-shirt too. Louis swallows, not because he feels violated or anything, but because Harry is staring at him like he’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, and it’s overwhelming to know that Harry truly thinks of him as something special.

Harry runs his hands over Louis’ body gently, his heart aching in pain as his fingertips trace the bruises on Louis’ skin from his fight. He has a big purple one on his right ribs, one on his left upper arm, another one on his lower belly, and one more above it, under the top of his chest.

“Does it hurt?” he asks, letting his fingers brush gently all over Louis’ skin.

“A little bit,” he replies. “But I want you to keep going, Haz. Want to feel your hands on me, I want to feel your skin against mine, I just…please.”

Harry looks at him unsure, not because he doesn’t want him, of course he does…but because he doesn’t want to hurt him.

“Please. I want you.” Louis’ voice is pleading, almost a whimper, and Harry nods.

“I’m gonna take care of you,” Harry says in a whisper, and Louis’ stomach does a back-flip at the promise. Harry kisses him on the mouth, sucking on his lower lip and tracing his tongue over it. His lips trace the line of Louis’, moving to his cheek and then to his cheekbone. Harry’s lips press feather light kisses to the bruise Xander had left on his face, and Louis’ eyes flutter closed as he takes it all in.

Harry’s lips make their way down his neck, onto his collarbones and chest and down to his belly button, his damp curls tickling Louis’ skin as his lips press hotly to his skin. And it burns a little bit, but Harry’s lips feel so good against him that he doesn’t really want it to stop. Harry nips his way down Louis’ happy trail, stopping right above the waistband of his boxers, and Louis’ dick twitches.

“I’ll be right back,” Harry announces suddenly, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of his nose. Louis blinks in confusion, but realizes what he is doing when he sees him walking into the wardrobe.

Harry opens the door of the closet and moves some clothes aside, pulling out a bottle of lube and a few condoms

“A little bit hidden, aren’t they?” Louis teases when he sees him approaching the bed with both things in his hand.

“Not like I needed them before, did I?” he replies, smirking.

Louis’ heart jumps excitedly as he realizes that not only has Harry not needed them until now, but that this means he hasn’t been with anyone since he started at University.

“It’s only you, baby. It’s always been you,” Harry whispers, as if he’s reading Louis’ mind, and Louis gulps. Harry sets both things on the bed and pulls his boxers down quickly. His cock, long and hard, smacks against his stomach audibly, and Louis’ mouth starts to water, his dick getting impossibly harder. He stares at him, eyes hooded in lust, and bites his lip when Harry crawls into the bed.

Harry’s eyes trace Louis’ body from top to bottom and all Louis can see in them is love.

“You’re so beautiful,” Harry whispers, caressing his body with his fingertips, and Louis can feel butterflies in his stomach again. “I mean it. Do you know how beautiful you are?” Harry asks, kissing Louis’ belly. Beautiful doesn’t even does justice to how gorgeous Louis is to him. He’s found him stunning, more than stunning, since the day he met him. His blue eyes and dark eyelashes, his button nose and pink, tight lips, his perfect curves and sinful hands, his tanned skin, everything. “So pretty, Lou. So fucking pretty.” Harry mumbles, crawling down his body and thumbing at the waist of Louis’ boxers, starting to pull them down. “Tell me if you want me to stop.” he says, looking at him seriously, but Louis shakes his head, lifting his hips and helping Harry get them off around the wrappings on his knee.

“Keep…shit, keep going, Hazza, please,” Louis gasps as cold air hits his cock, and he bites his lip hard, feeling the area where Xander had split it start to open again, but he doesn’t care. At this point, he just really wants to come, and he wants Harry to be the reason.

“Okay, but, just tell me if you need me to stop…I don’t want to hurt you, love,” Harry says again.

When Louis just gazes at him, Harry spreads Louis’ legs and starts pressing his lips to the soft skin of his thighs, leaving little love bites everywhere and making Louis squirm with how good it feels. Louis is so hard, he can barely think, and as Harry leaves yet another mark, precome spurts from his tip. Harry lifts his head, licks his lips, and before Louis can even prepare himself, Harry’s mouth is closing around the tip of his cock, encasing it in warm, wet heat that Louis had been craving. Louis throws his head back and moans, his eyes closed as pleasure spreads throughout his body.

“Oh my god…fuck, Harry, your mouth...”

Harry hums around him, taking him a bit deeper, and Louis tangles his fingers in Harry’s hair, trying to find something to ground him and keep him from bucking his hips up.

“Fuck...” he gasps, and Harry starts to bob his head up and down, Louis’ hips stuttering as he tries in vain to hold them down. Harry’s hands settle on Louis’ hipbones, pushing them down and holding him steady against the mattress, the tips of his thumbs brushing and digging into Louis’ fleshy hips. Louis opens his eyes, watching Harry as he sucks him off, and he can barely take it, growing harder with every swipe of Harry’s tongue on the underside of his cock.

Harry alternates his movements between bobbing his head up and down, hallowing his cheeks, and flicking his tongue over the tip of Louis’ dick, playing attention a lot to his head. Louis’ breaths become shorter and faster as he feels the heat coiling low in his stomach.

“Haz…fuck, Harry, if you don’t stop now, m’gonna come...want you inside me first,” Louis says, his hand in Harry’s hair tightening as he tries to fend off his orgasm, and Harry pulls off at once, licking his lips and tasting Louis’ precome on his tongue.

Harry reaches for the lube and coats his fingers, gently prodding until he reaches the edge of Louis’ hole. “Is this okay?” he asks, looking at him.

“Yeah, just…keep going, please.”

Harry nods again and moves his finger teasingly slow, making Louis whimper. After a few more seconds of teasing - he loves the noises Louis makes - he sinks his first finger into Louis, moving it around and pulling a long moan out of Louis.

“Another one, please,” Louis begs almost at once, and Harry complies, being careful still as he puts his middle finger in next to his first one, scissoring them apart to open Louis up. Louis arches his back again, head pressed against his pillow, as Harry’s fingers find his prostate. “Yeah, fuck, Hazza, right there,” he cries, and Harry’s fingers brush over the little bundle of nerves, causing Louis to moan again. Louis thinks he’s gonna lose his mind because Harry’s fingers are so long and perfect and they’re filling him up. “Jesus, your fingers feel so good inside me, Haz, fuck!”

“Yeah, you like this? You like how do my fingers feel inside you?” he asks, and Louis takes note of how blown Harry’s pupils are, his dick twitching against his stomach and spurting more precome.

“ Another one, please,” he begs. “I can take a third one...”

“Are you sure? We’ve got time, Lou,” he says quietly, because yes, he would love to oblige, but he is afraid of doing something that will hurt Louis or make him feel uncomfortable.

“Harry, please, need a third, need you so fucking bad...”

Harry obeys, smirking a little bit. He slides in a third finger, dipping his head to suck the head of Louis’ cock into his mouth again. He is three fingers deep inside Louis’ ass now, trying to stretch him as much as possible so he doesn’t hurt him, and sucking him off just gets Harry harder - he loves giving head.

“I’m ready. I’m ready.” Louis starts to cry and mewl, his voice raspy and needy. “I want you inside me now,” he continues desperately, his hips bucking up as Harry licks a fat stripe to the vein on his cock.

Wow, Harry is so fascinated by how eager and needy Louis is right now, all squirmy under his touch, reacting instantly to his mouth and fingers. And he doesn’t want to tease him, he doesn’t want to make him beg. He will have time to play later, but right now, the only thing he wants is to make him feel good and enjoy this moment as much as possible.

Harry pulls off Louis’ cock entirely, kissing up his chest until he reaches Louis’ lips, and he licks inside eagerly, moaning against Louis’ lips.

He pulls his fingers out of Louis, feeling the ghost of Louis’ hole clenching around nothing, and rips open the condom packet. He slides the condom onto himself, gasping as he touches his neglected cock.

He lines himself up with Louis’ hole, drizzling a little more lube so that it doesnn’t hurt, and presses slowly inside, stopping only about an inch in to give Louis time to adjust to his size.

Louis whines in pleasure. His body hurts a little, but Harry is inside him now and he has never felt anything better. That’s all that matters.

“Tell me what do you want me to do, Lou,” Harry says, brushing his lips over Louis’ chin. “I’ll do whatever you ask me to.”

“Can…can you move, please?” Louis breathes, his words coming out in almost a groan.

Harry doesn’t say a word, but he does exactly what Louis asks, pulling out almost all the way before sliding back in carefully. The noise Louis makes is so amazing that Harry has to do it again. He starts rocking his hips against Louis’ first slow and then picking up speed, but never going to hard, not wanting to hurt Louis.

“You feel so good, babe, so good around me. Gosh - you’re so fucking tight,” Harry grunts. Louis wants to cry of pleasure and happiness. Harry hasn’t stopped praising him ever since they got into the room, and he had never imagined that this, them together, would feel as amazing and magical as it did. “So good for me,” Harry mumbles, thrusting his hips and pulling a high pitched moan from Louis. And if Louis’ voice was always a bliss to him, his moans are just as pretty, if not even more, Harry decides.

“Oh my God, Haz … fuck,” Louis mewls. His legs are shaking, so he wraps them around Harry’s waist, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his wrapped knee. But it’s suddenly gone as pleasure courses through his body. “You’re so big, _fuck_.” He shuts his eyes, and he can see the stars and all the planets as Harry continues to thrust into him.

Harry dips his head to kiss Louis again, never letting up on his thrusts, and Louis kisses him back desperately, needing him.

Louis connects his tremblings lips to Harry’s, his moan getting lost in Harry’s mouth as he presses hot, open-mouthed kisses to his lips and jaw.

“I’m close, Harry.” Louis’ words come out in barely a whisper, his whole body trembling as he feels his orgasm coming closer and closer.

“Are you going to come?” Harry asks in a deep voice, kissing his shoulder. Louis nods with desperation, so Harry begins thrusting a little faster and starts sucking on Louis’ neck, trapping the skin between his teeth leaving a bruise. “Okay,” he finally says. He slips his hand in between their bodies and grabs Louis’ cock to jerk him off. “Come for me then,” he hisses, moving his hand up and down his length slowly, teasing him.

“Fuck, fuck!” Louis whines. He starts breathing heavily, and his nails scratch down Harry’s back as he tries to hold off his orgasm just a little longer.

“C’mon, baby. I want to see how pretty you look when you come because of me.”

The way Louis is looking at him makes him groan in the most obscene way, land he catches Louis’ eye, rubbing his thumb in circles over Louis’ slit.

Louis lets out a cry. It’s all too much. The way Harry is staring at him with his messy hair sticking into his sweaty forehead, the way his hand moves around him, the way he is feeling him up in the most delicious way. “I want to hear how beautiful my name sounds in your mouth when you’re coming into my hand, with my cock up in your ass,” Harry goes on in his husky voice, making Louis feel dizzy with pleasure. “C’mon, Lou, come for me, babe.”

The pleasure is just too much, almost reaching the unbearable point. it’s in every part of his body and he can hardly keep still, his entire being tight as a wire ready to snap.

“Ha-Harry … shit, Harry … I ...”

“Yeah, moan my name and come, love,” Harry grunts, hand working over Louis’ cock as he kisses Louis hard. “Come for me, please.”

“Fuck, Harry!” he cries out loud, and that’s it. The wire holding him snaps and the orgasm explodes in Louis’ body. He screws his eyes shut as he comes into Harry’s hand, moaning his name loudly, just as Harry had asked, though he would have done it without the request.

Harry comes at the same time with a long, guttural groan, moaning Louis’ name as well. He collapses over his body and they both stay there, quiet a moment and boneless, bodies covered in sweat as they try to catch their breath.

Eventually, Harry pulls out of Louis gently, takes off his condom and throws it in the bin. He takes a moment for both of them to recover, staring at the ceiling, his fingers tangled with Louis’. “Let’s get a shower, shall we? And then we can sleep.” he suggests, and Louis nods, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, I’d love that,” Louis smiles, pecking Harry’s cheek..

Louis follows him into the bathroom, and Harry turns on the tap. They wait until it’s hot to step inside, and once they do, they let the water run all over their bodies.

“Lemme wash you.” Harry says softly, and Louis nods, because why would he say no to that? Harry washes his hair, massaging his head and his scalp gently, being careful not to press too hard on anywhere where there was a bruise. Louis leans into the touch, and Harry continues down his body, being sure to gently dab the soap over Louis’ bruises. He cleans himself quickly, because he doesn’t want Louis to do more effort than the one he has already done, and then they stay there a little bit more, sat down on the tub under the shower, legs tangled around each other, kissing sloppily and hugging each other, fingers trailing over their warm, wet skin.

When the water starts turning cold, they turn off the tap and go back to Harry’s room. Harry gives some pajama pants to Louis’ that look a little big on him, and they have a good laugh as Louis takes the time to roll them up to an appropriate length, and Harry puts on his own pants in the process.

Louis sits on Shawn’s bed as Harry changes the sheets on his own, and then they get into bed, covering themselves up with the duvet, Louis resting his head on Harry’s chest. Normally, it would be the other way around; Harry likes to make himself small and curl into Louis, and it had been the same all the times they cuddled while watching movies. But right now, with Louis still injured and probably still hurting, Harry wants to hold him and protect him.

Harry caresses Louis’ arm, closing his eyes. He feels happy, happier than he has in a while, and all the anger he had before because of Xander is gone now. He is laying next to Louis after having made love to him, and that’s all that matters. He had never been so crazy about a person ever before in his life. But Louis drives him senseless in every possible way. Heart, mind and body.

“I really love you, Harry,” Louis lets out in a sigh, taking in the moment himself. If someone would have told him a month ago that this would be where he was, he would have laughed, because, up until now, he’d thought that it was impossible that Harry liked him. He spent months thinking Harry only saw him as friend, months thinking he fell for someone who was never going to love him. But there they are right now, hugging in the most intimate way.

“And I love you too, Lou. Fuck, I have been in love with you since you hit me with that ball and you rushed to help me,” Harry replies, pressing his mouth against Louis’ temple, and Louis snorts out loud.

“Really romantic the way we met, innit?” he says and Harry giggles. “Well, I’ve been gone for you since that moment too.” He sighs. “I mean it. I’ve always been just … gone for you. but I really thought you didn't love me back. I thought you only saw me as a good friend.”

“Really?” Harry says, and Louis laughs, clutching his stomach as he feels the pain of his injuries, but Harry’s arms tighten ever so slightly around him, and he feels ok again.

“Really. And I thought I was obvious. I mean, everybody was just ‘Oh, you’re so gone for Harry’ and all that.”

“I thought I was obvious too, with all the cuddling and stuff,” Harry giggles.

“In my defense I thought the was completely platonic.”

“It was not,” Harry snorts.

“Are we really that oblivious? Were we really mad for each other and didn’t even realize?” Louis chuckles.

“Seems like it. I mean it when I say I never thought you were into me. I just thought you liked me as a friend, and you treated me with such kindness cause … I dunno.”

“Yeah, well, same.” Louis chews his lips, thinking. “Ehm…so, what are we? What are we now?”

“I know that maybe it’s a little bit fast, but … wouldn’t mind calling you my … my boyfriend?”

“You wouldn’t mind?” Louis asks, raising his eyebrows and laughing.

“Okay, I would love calling you like that.” Harry grins at him, brushing Louis’ fringe off his forehead. “Do you want me to be my boyfriend, Lou?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Louis answers, before kissing Harry on the mouth. They both smile into the kiss, giggling against each other. Yeah, it might be too quickly, considering the fact that they had just kissed and had sex for the first time all in one night, but they have also been pining for each other for months, and then again, they are different than everybody else. They are beyond happy and nothing can change that now.

 

When Louis wakes up, it’s still raining. He feels his hand on Harry’s chest and takes a moment to realize that he isn’t dreaming, that last night actually fucking happened. He got beat up really bad by Xander, he went to the infirmary, and after that, Harry had kissed him in the rain. He kissed him and they made love and then they showered together and kissed even more. All of that actually happened. He feels Harry’s heart under his palm, and when he looks up, he notices that Harry is already awake, watching him with the softest expression on his face.

“Didn’t want to wake you up. Figured you’d need some rest after all that happened yesterday,” he smiles at him, brushing his fingers over Louis’ face to fix his fringe. Louis smiles back before leaning up his head to kiss his lips.

“Lou…” Harry giggles. “I’m have morning breath.”

“I don’t care,” he grins, kissing him again, and Harry smiles into it, stroking his cheek with his fingertips. “Ugh, I can’t believe I just had you and I’ll have to leave you for three weeks now.” he whines. “Why is life so unfair?”

“Yeah, it sucks.” Harry agrees. “But at least I got to be with you. At least I got to tell you how I feel, and now I know you feel the same way. I thought I’d die if I didn’t get to kiss you,” he says and Louis smiles.

“Seriously, though, not to be dramatic, but same. I’ve been pining over you since, like, forever,” he chuckles.

“Does your body still hurt?” he asks, changing the subject. “Sorry if I went rough yesterday.”

“Hazza, you were perfect. And I feel better, actually. My bum does feel a little bit sore, though ...” He wiggles his eyebrows and Harry snorts.

“You were perfect too. Best night I’ve ever had in my life,” Harry says, kissing Louis’ temple.

“Yeah, I agree with that.”

“Are we going to talk these days, you know, when we’re apart?” Harry asks, brushing his lips over Louis’ knuckles. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna. I’d understand if you need time with your family.”

“Harold, I will call you everyday. You can get rid of me that easily. That is, if you’re okay with that, of course.”

“I’m more than okay with that,” Harry answers, his happiness evident in his voice.

“And my family is going to tease the fuck out of me when they know we’re together,” Louis admits, and Harry looks at him.

“Why?” he asks.

“Because when I went home for Christmas, they knew I was gone of you, as much as I tried to convince myself that I was not.” He licks his lips and Harry grins and that. “And the day you called me for my birthday…that day, well, that day I just couldn’t pretend anymore. That was the day I knew I was completely gone for you.”

“Yeah, well, kinda same thing. Only that I realized that I was fucking gone for you the day we watched Evil Dead. I was so scared and you didn’t mock me or anything, you just…You just let me hug you. I snuggled into you and you didn’t tell me to move away, you hugged me back.”

“I was gone for you that day too, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself,” Louis sighs. “I will miss you so bad,” he adds with a pout. “You have no idea how much I missed you during the Christmas break,” he protests, hiding his face in the crook of Harry’s neck and breathing in his scent.

“I will miss you too, Lou,” Harry replies, caressing Louis’ arm with his fingertips. They feel warm and soft against his skin, and Louis wishes Harry would never stop touching him.

“But...Now I’ll have something to remember you these days.” he grins before leaning in closer, dirty look on his face “And I’ll also have the best memory of all to wank to at night.”

“Naughty Harold,” Louis teases him. “Did you do that? Wanked while thinking of me?” he asks, breathing slightly heavier at the thought.

“You bet I did.” Harry replies, voice so husky and low, and it sends an electric shock all down Louis’ spine.

Louis smiles at him and kisses him, and Harry kisses him back. He will never get tired of this, honestly. He just loves how soft Harry’s lips are, how they can be so gentle and persistent at the same time. The kiss is almost innocent, sloppy and wet, but Louis trails his fingers all the same down Harry’s chest until he is slipping them under his pants. Harry grunts when he feels Louis’ hot fingers closing around his length. He is already hard and they have only just started kissing each other. If he is being honest, he actually woke up semi hard, but in his defense, how could he not when he woke up next to Louis?

Louis starts pumping his dick slowly, and Harry hides his face in Louis’ neck, biting the skin to drown his moans, making sure to leave a mark on it. Louis hisses and strokes him faster as he pays special attention to his head, thumbing at it. He slides down a little to kiss one of Harry’s niples and suck it into his mouth, making Harry moan. Harry’s nipples have always been oversensitive and the feeling is just perfect and overwhelming, especially because it’s Louis’ mouth on his skin. Suddenly he is breathing heavily. He can feel the orgasm building up and bubbling in his lower belly. He lets out a moan and Louis thinks he has never heard such beautiful noises in his life. Louis kisses him on the mouth again and bites his lip, holding back his own moan, and next thing he knows, Harry is coming all over his hand. Louis smiles and tugs Harry a few more times, cleaning his fingers on the pants Harry lent him. He could feel the sticky mess in his pants; He actually came from giving Harry a morning wank. “Now you have another memory to remember me over these days … and to remember as you play with yourself at night,” he smirks, and Harry just kisses him again.

* * *

**Harry's POV**

Harry goes with Louis to the train station and stays there with him until he has to leave, kissing him goodbye more times than he cares to admit. He feels kinda sad because he knows he won’t see him for three weeks, but on the other hand, his heart is bursting with happiness because of what happened the night before. For months, he thought his love for Louis was impossible. Told himself Louis was not flirting with him but just being nice, and also told himself he didn’t want to screw up a friendship as wonderful as the one they had.

When Xander told him Louis was gone for him, he didn’t believe it, or didn’t want to believe it, because that would have been he spent months in which he could have done something without doing anything. But now that he and Louis are boyfriends, and even as crazy as it sounds, Harry feels so happy he could sore and ascend to the infinite space.

Later that night, Harry finds himself already in Cheshire with his mum Anne, his sister Gemma, and his stepdad Robin. Not much time passes until he is grabbing his Mac to video call Louis. Louis picks up almost instantly and smiles like an idiot, and Harry can’t contain his own goofy grin at the sight of Louis.

“Hi, miss you already.”

“Miss you too, Hazza,” Louis says with a sigh, but he’s smiling.

“What did your family say when they saw you like this?” he asks.

“They knew…seems like the head professor called them to let them know what happened with Xander, so yeah.”

“Did they ask why he did that? Oh god, Lou, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault!” Harry says, feeling suddenly terrible. He’d tried to put on a good face for Louis, but he still felt terrible for everything that had happened.

“What? Haz, are you crazy? It’s not your fault that Xander is a dick! Please, don’t ever feel sorry for that.”

Harry purses his lips but nods. Suddenly, a girl with platinum hair and blue eyes sits next to Louis and stares at the camera.

“You must be Harry” she says.

“Lottie …” Louis rolls his eyes and tries to shove her away, but she doesn’t budge.

“Shh, I’m trying to talk over here!” she replies, making Harry laugh.

“Hi, you must be Lottie,” he says back.

“I am,” she smiles. “You’re nice. I like you. My brother is gone for you.”

“Oh my god, Charlotte, leave!” Louis says to her, blushing. Harry can see the way his cheeks turn pink even by the camera.

“I’m crazy about your brother too!” he replies and suddenly Louis is smiling, his cheeks going an even darker shade of pink.

“Well, you better be. Because if you hurt him, in any way, I will rip your balls off and feed the testicles to my neighbor’s dog,” she grins mischievously, and Louis groans.

“CHARLOTTE!”

“It’s okay, Lou,” Harry chuckles. “I promise, I will take care of your brother. I’d never hurt him,” he assures Lottie.

“Excellent! I’m glad we had this talk. Nice to meet you, Harry.” she waves at the camera before leaving.

“I’m so sorry for that!” Louis apologizes, hiding his face behind his hands.

“It’s okay. I like her attitude,” he smiles.

They talk a little bit more before Louis has to go. During the three following weeks, they Skype everyday after dinner, and sometimes after lunch too. Louis sends him pictures of the baby twins, and Harry wants to meet them already because he has always been weak for babies. He is only 20, but he knows for sure that he wants to have children someday, and now that he has Louis, he wants to imagine a life for them. Sure, they have only just started dating, but he knows Louis is the man he wants to marry and have a family with. He actually can’t believe they are together, he can’t believe he got so lucky.

The Easter Break goes painfully slow for him. Even slower than the Christmas one did, maybe because that now that he knows how Louis’ lips taste, he can’t wait to kiss him and make love to him again. Fuck, it was one of the most incredible experiences he has ever had, and just thinking about the way Louis shuddered with pleasure under his body and lips makes him go dizzy. Fuck, he can’t wait to be with him again.

The 21st of April finally comes around, and they finally get to see each other again at Manchester University. Louis goes to Harry’s room, runs and jumps onto him, wrapping his legs around his waist like a koala, and kisses him. Harry smiles against him, holding him up.

“I missed you so fucking much,” Louis whispers.

“Fuck, me too” Harry whispers against him. Louis unwraps his legs and pecks Harry on the corner of his mouth. Harry blushes. He actually fucking blushes and giggles like a little kid.

He takes a step back to look at Louis and smiles.. His bruises have already faded away and now he only has a small cut on his cheek. He lifts up his hand and brushes the tip of his thumb softly over it before leaving a tender kiss on it. Louis smiles at him, crinkles by his eyes, and grabs Harry’s hand to kiss his knuckles. He has always loved Harry’s hands. They are masculine and big, but they are also really soft and gentle at the same time, and he just loves them.

“I’m going to enjoy the next three months as much as possible,” Louis smirks, and then he leans in towards his ear and whispers, in a very dirty voice “You have no idea the things I have planned for you.” He bites softly and sucks on his earlobe gently, and Harry can’t help shuddering with that promise. He can’t also help feeling slightly tight in his pants.

That night, after they finish dinner with all the guys and after they ask Niall to sleep in Harry and Shawn’s room, they go to Louis’ and make love for a second and third time, getting lost in the sheets and into each other, getting lost in the night. They might be getting a little bit too addicted to each other, they know that but it doesn’t matter. They want to be as close as possible all the time, and they don’t want to leave each other’s side, that’s true. But they love it. And what they love the most is that they have all the time of the world.

* * *

**Louis' POV**

It’s the final minute of the final match of season, and if Louis scores the free kick right now, they will be champions. Harry is in the stands next to Zayn, Niall, his girlfriend Barbara, and his family, who went there to watch the game. Louis gets distracted for a second by how cute Harry looks with Ernie and Doris in his arms. The twins are sleeping peacefully against him, with ear protects around their heads, and the whole scene is just too endearing.

Louis stares at the goalkeeper and breathes heavily. He’s got this. He has done it before. He will score. Yes, he can do it. He kicks, and the roar of the crowd takes a few seconds to penetrate his ears. He’s made the shot. Before he can even cheer for himself, he’s being held up in the air by his teammates as they sing really loud, “We are champions, we are champions!” Louis is smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. When they put him down, Liam and Shawn run to him to hug him and pat his back and ruffle his hair.

He sees Jay picking up Ernie and Doris and Harry heading down to the field, so he runs at him and jumps into his arms, kissing him furiously.

“I’m so proud of you,” Harry smiles against his lips. “You’re my little champion.”

“Harold, you just did not call me little!” he says, poking him in the ribs.

“Oh, but I just did.” Harry winks and Louis laughs.

“You did it!”. Right next to him, Zayn is giving Liam a congratulatory kiss as well. Liam lifts him up and spins him around, Zayn laughing against him.

Jay is coming next to hug him and kiss his head, even though he is all sweaty and he probably smells bad. “I’m so proud of you, baby. You made momma really proud.” She smiles, hugging him tighter.

“Oh, mum, stop!” Louis blushes.

“I mean it, darling,” she says, smiling at him and stroking his cheeks. “I’m so proud of you. Look at how far you’ve come, Boo Bear. And I’m so happy you have someone like Harry, here. I wouldn’t have accepted less for you.” There are tears in the corner of her eyes.

“Mum, don’t cry!” he says softly to her.

“Happy tears, my love, happy tears.”

Louis smiles and hugs her again, sighing with joy.

He then hugs all his siblings, who also go running to him, and Dan, who is with the babies now. Louis smiles and kisses them both on the forehead, and when he is caressing them, Ernie’s hand closes around his finger. Harry is staring at him with a wide smile.

“What?” he asks, giggling.

“I just like the way you look with babies,” he shrugs his shoulders.

* * *

**Harry and Louis' POV**

After the celebration victory, Harry shows Louis all the photos he has on his camera, and Louis notices there are tons of pictures of him. Not just from football, but in general. Harry captured him in photos, candid ones, more than once, and Louis didn’t even notice. And in most of them, he is smiling. Louis was always a happy person, but ever since he met Harry, he smiles more and it comes so natural to him. When he is around him, he feels like two wires were pulling up the corners of his mouths in big smiles. Louis feels his stomach do a backflip because he can’t believe he is so lucky to have someone like Harry loving him as much as he loves him.

“I needed to have you somehow, even if it was just here.” Harry whispers, explaining. “I needed to, dunno, have you somehow. Many nights, when I got a little bit sad because I thought you didn’t love me, I would look through them. And it got a little bit better because at least I could have you in my life. It’s creepy, I know,” he chuckles.

Louis just hugs him and buries his face in his neck. He loves doing that. Loves breathing in his scent. It smells like home. “No, love. It’s not creepy at all.”

That night, they all have a celebration. They drink together, play drinking games, and get a little bit too tipsy. Liam and Zayn don’t stop touching each other, but they also tease, along with Niall, the fuck of Harry and Louis.

“You’re fucking cheesy,” Liam mocks them when he sees Harry nuzzling his nose into Louis’ neck and giggling against him.

“Oh, you’re fucking one to talk!” he laughs back.

“Why, don’t you like the way Li and I kiss each other?” Zayn jokes, before kissing Liam sloppily and over-exaggerating everything.

“Get a fucking room!” Harry shouts, and they all laugh.

“You’re all so ridiculously in love, you’re gonna give me a sweet tooth.” Niall shakes his head, grinning.

The girls are there too. Perrie and Jade do also seem really happy, and it’s crazy, because what was once a bunch of broken hearts had now turned into happiness and bliss, and into people finding the person they love and want to spend their lives with.

Yes. Louis wants to spend his life with Harry. And yes, he knows he met him less than a year ago but sue him, that’s what he wants. He is irrevocably in love with him and can’t help but imagining a future with him. Adopting babies, having pets, buying a new house and growing up old together.

They promise to keep in touch over the summer, although they know there is no need in doing that because they have always done it. They always talk during summer breaks. They also talk about going camping all together a few days before Uni starts again, and Louis is really excited already at the idea. Harry, Zayn, Liam, Niall and Barbara, and the girls, all camping? Sounds like a proper fun trip, let’s be honest.

Later, when the little party is over, Harry and Louis are walking through the grounds under a heavy spring rain. They are just playing and laughing under it, tickling each other and running, acting like two kids in love. Which they are in love, but the rain makes them feel younger, free.  He really feels like a teenager in love, though. He feels like one of those characters from teenage movies who blush all the time and feel butterflies in their stomach because the person they liked just looked at them. They stop right in the middle of the field, letting the rain hit their bodies, feeling alive. Their clothes are soaking wet and are sticking to their bodies, but they couldn’t care less. They promise that they will visit each other during the summer break, because they can’t be away from each other for so long again. They plan on passing some of their holidays together. They have both talked to their families and they have already arranged that Harry would visit Louis for two weeks, and Louis would visit Harry for two weeks, too. It’s going to be sick.

Harry spins Louis around under the rain, and Louis laughs, crinkles by his eyes. They both start dancing dumbly, just enjoying the moment, letting themselves go. Harry bites his lower lip before brushing Louis wet fringe out of his eyes, kissing his forehead lightly. Louis loves when he does that. It makes him feel safe.

“Aren’t we a pair of saps? Always having moments in the rain?”

“We are, but I like it,” Harry shrugs his shoulders.

Louis slips his hands under Harry’s wet shirt, which is already so transparent he can see his chest. “Is rain going to be our thing now?” he says, flicking his tongue over his lower lip.

“Well…” Harry whispers, bringing him closer, big hands wrapped around his hips, “I love dancing in the rain with you.” He leans in and stops right before touching Louis’ lips, smirking at him. He loves teasing him, loves the way Louis reacts when he does those kind of things, when he pushes him to the limit.

Louis closes the distance between them and kisses him, happy and carefree, feeling Harry’ smile against his own smile. He lifts up his hands and brings them to Harry’s hair, tangling his delicate fingers through his soaked locks.

“I love you so much, Haz. So fucking much,” Louis says, pecking his lips one, two, three times. “I don’t think I will ever stop loving you.”

“And I love you too, Lou. Now and forever,” he replies, kissing him on the mouth again.

They are both completely happy and very much in love, and as long as they have each other, everything will be fine. And that’s all that matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK? Did you like the ending? The story in general? Please leave your comments and if you liked it, your kuddos, too. I'd love to know your opinion of this story I work very hard on and means a lot to me.  
> If you want, I have other fics you can read.  
> Bye, and thanks again!


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